Archaeology for Tourists

December 30, 2012:  In port Huatulco, Mexico – More Ruins and a Museum

Silver Whisper docked at 12:00pm in the Port of Bahia de Santa Cruz near the city of Huatulco, about 250 miles south of Acapulco, in the Mexican state of Oaxaca.   Major reasons for visiting Huatulco are to tour the area’s beaches and forests and engage in adventure/eco-tourism.  Those are tourist activities that J and E do not find interesting or entertaining.  For future reference, we do not mountain bike, river kayak, bird watch, or snorkel (at least not voluntarily.)   So, the only choice left to us was to visit another Mayan archaeological site.  This one, just outside Huatulco, is named Copalita.

The Welcome Sign Says It All

We are not convinced of the "close to heaven" bit.

It was onto the tourist bus for the mercifully short drive to Copalita Eco-Archaeological Park.  On arriving at the park, instead of an entry ticket, we were each given a hospital-type, wrist ID band.  (Maybe wrist ID bands are more ecologically correct.)  Then, we were organized in groups, each with a guide, and headed off into the afternoon heat looking like straggling bands of legionnaires going to our doom in the Mexican sun.  A climate observation follows (any climate change deniers may skip this):  It is extremely hot and humid in the afternoon sun at 15 Degrees North Latitude even on December 30^th.

 The Dreaded Tour Bus

Legionnaires collect your water and form up!

Copalita, Paved Tourist Track

The track makes it easier to find bodies of those with heat stroke.  No dogs required.

Regretfully, for the nonacademic tourist, one Mayan archaeological site begins to look very much like another, which you visited the day before.  An exception is at Copalita, a site better prepared for tourists, with walkways and drainage.   Another saving grace is that the forest vegetation had regrown around the site to the point where the walkways were (in large part) shaded.  Copalita was an urban site occupied by the Mayans from 400 BCE to 1320 CE, before the arrival of the Aztecs and Spanish.  Most of the viewing was of Mayan pyramids, temples and ball courts.  (Our guide could not convince any of us to join him in a game of Mayan ball, even without the winning prize of having your heart cut out in sacrifice to assorted Mayan deities.)

 Copalita, Unexcavated Mound

No digging allowed by gringo tourists!

Copalita, Excavated Mound with Occasional Tree

The trees may not help the reconstructed pyramid, but they save tourists' lives.

Copalita, Partially Restored Pyramid

The former home of chiefs and priests - now you know the origins of "high priest."

Copalita, Mayan Ball Court

Finally, a ball game with no winners!

After an hour and a half of brain baking and hoping you would not be overcome by heat stroke, we were taken into the archaeological museum.  Which, to be eco-friendly, was not air conditioned.  Exhibits included pottery, statuary, stela, and examples of the Mayan Codices, which are the written (pictographic) record of Mayan civilization.  Most of the Codices were destroyed by Spanish priests during the occupation of Mexico.  Christians have a hell of a lot to answer for.

Copalita, Archaeological Museum

This eco-friendly structure provides heating in summer and cooling in winter.

Copalita Museum, Statue of Mayan God

It is no wonder, with this friendly official greeter, tourism hasn't taken off here.

 Copalita Museum, Stela with  Another Mayan God

There were many Mayan gods.  Most required fresh human hearts regularly.

Copalita Museum, Mayan Codex Pages

Maybe the priests thought that they were comic strips and bad for children.

After the museum, it was back on the bus and our return trip to the port.  We succeeded in arriving late, abetting the 30-minute late sailing of the ship.  However, we were not the last ones aboard!  At 5:30pm, it was lines in, and we were underway for Acapulco.  There was no copy of Elvis Presley’s movie, “Fun in Acapulco,” found aboard, so we were spared that adventure into American culture.