We're on the last of our tour of Yucatan's Puuc Route: Sayil, Xlapak, Labná and Loltun Cave. All closely connected (geographically at least) to Kabah.
Sayil: we're still talking a heyday of about 700-900 AD on these sites. Sayil is all about The Diving God E, who may or may not be a maize deity – he's not talking. Here you see E, taking a header off the roof of the main palace. A BASE jumper, is our Diving God E. Focus on his eyes in the photo over there, then look above his eyes and you'll see his little body, rear end up in the air & legs bent for the dive. I have no idea what diving off of anything would have to do with maize.
A sacbe goes right through Sayil, leading to the Mirador Temple, one of its smaller temples (over there on the left). It still has a mostly-restored roofcomb atop it. Behold the average, no-big-deal height of a roofcomb above the structure itself – and imagine how all those other Mayan buildings must have looked with this kind of rooftop. Painted bright red-yellow-black-blue stucco, no less.
Xlapak: Not many structures here and most of them are mostly rubble. Not a deterrent: The Palace on the right there, has its stack of 3 large snouted masks restored. The interior rooms with their vaulted ceilings are awaiting your appreciation.
Labná: just a few mintues further down the road. It has a compact group of palaces, one of which features a corner piece image of a human head protruding from a gaping serpent's mouth, much like the one seen in Uxmal a few miles back north. Except this one's a bit more ornate. Maybe the architects of Labná were in a bit of a competition with Uxmal's?
Loltun Cave: archaeologists found evidence of human occupancy dating to about 5000 BC. The cave's first ceramic artifacts were officially dated at about 1600 BC. Human occupancy (and the artifacts left behind) continued through the Spanish Conquest and even the 19th Century revolutions. Upon entering Loltun Cave now, you pass through chambers featuring stalactites and stalagmites and the occasional pictograph – until you approach a back chamber in which rests the head scultpure known as The Loltun Head. Lots to see in here, and you are left to imagine how many other caves there are throughout the Yucatan where people have left other tracks across the centuries.
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