Exploring the Mayan Pyramids: Kabah

About 20 km from Uxmal we stopped to see the Mayan site of Kabah, another site on the Puuc route.  It is believed that the settlement of Kabah began sometime between 300 BC and 250 AD, though the major temples were not constructed until sometime between 850 and 900 AD. 

What is interesting about this site is that in large part, it remains unexcavated.  The main plaza has been partially restored and this was where we spent our time.  Simultaneously, we had the advantage of seeing just how much of the Mayan construction were still in-tact.  One of the main buildings at Kabah known as Codz Poop, is adorned with some 250 Chaac masks on the façade.  Chaac is the Mayan rain god, to whom the building is dedicated.  

On the back of the same building, you can see a latticework frieze including large statues.  Within the main door frames, you can also still find in-tact relief art depicting a variety of warrior scenes.  And if you look really closely in the stone latticework, you could also still make out remnants of the colored plaster that coated the various facades, providing an indication as to how colorful these buildings must have been at one time.

On this site, we also got to see the archaeological work in process, with the mounds of cataloged stones that still need to appropriately relocated onto each building.  Many stones still sport number markings to presumably indicate where they came from or where they should be placed.