The Maya Culture Of Isla de la Cozumel : Some History

Museo de la Isla de Cozumel y Ruinas Mayas el Cedral

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Note: Much of the historical text and some photos for this post provided by other sources.

The Cozumel Museum (Museo de la Isla de Cozumel) sits on the waterfront in downtown San Miguel de Cozumel. Inside the historical building are a wealth of displays, all well signed in both Spanish and English. Its four permanent exhibit rooms offer an overview of the island’s geography, ecosystems, history, and culture.

Small Maya settlements typically had homes with thatched roofs. The aim of these small ecosystems closely tied to the natural world, was to employ less and use materials from the surroundings. The Maya home was actually a piece of land, a broad open space with small areas for specific purposes, such as the house, the kitchen, the well for drawing freshwater, the washing area, the hen-house and the ka’anche, or small raised garden. 

The House

The Kitchen

Raised Garden (right)

The ancient Maya civilization of Central America left behind an intricate and mysterious hieroglyphic script, carved on monuments, painted on pottery, and drawn in handmade bark-paper books (photos below). For centuries, scholars considered it too complex ever to understand—until recently, when an ingenious series of breakthroughs finally cracked the code and unleashed a torrent of new insights into the Mayas' turbulent past.

The building (above and below left) existed on a spot called Mirimar. It was demolished by the US Military to build an airport on the island. It was a temple and fortunately the column representing a female deity (below right) was recovered. 

 

El Cedral is the oldest Mayan Ruins on Cozumel Island, dating back to 800 A.D. This Mayan village was once the capital of Cozumel, and the largest community on the island. It was discovered by Spanish Conquistadors in 1518, who tore down much of the Mayan temple, and then during World War II, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers destroyed more of it to make way for the island's first airport. Today, there is not much of this once significant Mayan temple remaining.

This Maya ruin, a fertility temple, is the oldest on the island. It’s the size of a small house and has no ornamentation. El Cedral is thought to have been an important ceremonial site.

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