Ancient Mayan Circular Temple Dedicated to Serpent Deity Uncovered in Mexico, Expands Understanding of Spiritual Activities in El Tigre

It was believed that the Mayan civilization started around 1500 BCE and thrived throughout Central America and southern North America until around 900 CE. Anthropologists and archeologists suggest that the civilization continued to flourish in the Yucatan Peninsula for centuries longer, with the last city falling to the Spanish conquerors in 1697.

Circular Structure in the Jungle

In a recent exploration, a team of experts with the Mexican National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) has unearthed the remnants of a circular temple in a jungle in Mexico. The structure may have been built in honor of the ancient Maya serpent deity Kukulcán.

The 1,000-year-old temple was discovered in El Tigre, an archeological site in the Yucatán Peninsula. According to INAH, the area served as one of the last settlements of ancient Maya before the collapse of their civilization. This is not the first time a circular temple was found in the Yucatán Peninsula. Similar structures were discovered in Uxmal, Chichen Itzá, Becán, and Edzná.

Analysis of the excavations revealed that the circular temple contained two levels and at one would have been covered with a flat roof. The discovery was part of the "Tren Maya" (Maya Train) project which involved the construction of a 1,000-mile (1,609 km) railway between Mexican states.

The development of the Maya Train is accompanied by the Archeological Zone Improvement Program (Promeza) which allows Mexico to recover the glorious past and cultural present of the great Mesoamerican Maya nation. Directed by Ernesto Vargas Pacheco, the archeological work is now 87% complete and is set to begin in December.

Ancient Serpent Cult

El Tigre, also known as Itzamkanac in Campeche State, is one of the least explored sites in the region. It used to be the capital of the Acalán Maya, but it is overshadowed by more famous places such as Palenque and Chichen Itza. Experts believe that the circular structures would have been of great importance to the Maya people.

According to anthropologist and INAH director general Diego Prieto Hernández, the ancient building broadens their knowledge of the late occupation of El Tigre. Circular structures generally correspond to the early Postclassic era between A.D. 1000 and 1200, when the Maya region had links with other zones of Mesoamerica, such as the Gulf Coast, Oaxaca, and central Mexico.

These links enabled the spread of religious iconography between the two cultures, which include the feathered serpent deity in the Aztec world known as Quetzalcóatl. Anthropologists believe that this deity was adopted by the ancient Maya people as Kukulcán.

An important historical source in the region is the "Paxbolón Maldonado Papers," a document written by Don Pablo Paxbolón who served as the Chontal chief from 1575 to 1576. The historical text described a settlement called Itzamkanac which features temples built in honor of the four main deities of the Postclassic Maya, including Kukulcán.

According to Pacheco, the discovery of a temple at El Tigre dedicated to Kukulcán is strong evidence that this archeological site is the Itzamkanac settlement described in the Paxbolón Maldonado Papers. This theory is supported by the cited location of the area as well as other archeological data.