Talk:San Gervasio (Maya site)

Howdy, I am brand new at this wiki thing, but I ran across the article on San Gervasion (an area I have specialized in since the early 1970s) and I noticed a few mistakes that I would like to correct. I would also like to take the opportunity to add more information about the site along with footnotes regarding source material. I noticed that no one has posted anything on this talk page since 2008. Perhaps there is no one out there following the talk section of this article, but I thought I'd try to reach out before I attempt to post any revisions. If anyone is out there, please let me know, and I will be happy to discuss my ideas for revisions before I apply them. Wizardofcoz (talk) 00:23, 8 May 2012 (UTC)

Since I haven’t heard from anybody yet, I am posting the following proposed edit up on this talk page, where I will leave it posted for a week before I submit the changes to the article.

San Gervasio (Maya site) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search For other localities with this name, see San Gervasio (disambiguation).

FIRST OCCUPIEDLate-ClassicEarly Classic

PERIOD: Early Late Classic to Colonial Post-Classic

ABANDONED: Prior to Spanish discoverybetween 1520 and 1600

ARCHITECHTURAL STYLES: Mesoamerican pyramids and arches Mayapan & East Coast Styles

San Gervasio is an archaeological site of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization, located at the approximate center in center of the northern third of the island of Cozumel off the northeastern coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in what is now the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico. San Gervasio’s pre-Hispanic name was Tantun Cuzamil, Mayan for “Flat Rock in the place of the Swallows.” It is situated in what is now the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico. The ruins were once a hub of worship to of the goddess Ix Chel, ( meaning "She of the Rainbows"): deity of the moon, midwifery childbirth, fertility, medicine, and weaving. Although some sources state the meaning of her name means "She of the Rainbow," derived from the similar sounding Mayan words ‘’Ix’’ and ‘’Cheel,’’ her name was ‘’Ix Ch’el;’’ ‘’Ix,’’ meaning female, and ‘’Ch’el,’’ meaning white or pale face, a name befitting a moon goddess. She is also identified in the Madrid Codex as "the White Lady." Archaeologists also identify her as the Classic Period Goddess I.

Pre-Columbian Maya people women would try to travel to San Gervasio the site and make offerings at certain times of the year at least once in their lives. In 1560, the Spanish historian, Diego Lopez de Cogolludo, wrote: "The pilgrims arrive at Cozumel for the fulfillment of their vows to offer their sacrifices, to ask help for their needs, and for the mistaken adoration of their false gods." The bishop of Yucatan, Diego de Landa, wrote in 1549 that the Maya "held Cozumel in the same veneration as we have for pilgrimages to Jerusalem and Rome, and so they used to go to visit and offer presents there, as we do to holy places; and if they did not go themselves, they always sent their offerings."

Contents [hide] • 1 Overview • 2 History • 3 Structures o 3.1 Manitas Structure o 3.2 Chi Chan Nah o 3.3 Ka'na Nah Structure o 3.4 El Arco o 3.5 Plaza Central o 3.6 Nohoch Nah o 3.7 Murcielagos • 4 Sources

[edit] Overview Most structures have roofs less than 4 feet (1.2 m) tall and include interior stone walls and exterior columns. Much of the shape of the structures and their roofs remain a mystery as they were enhanced by wood and straw when in their original condition. It is also speculated that further wood and straw huts surrounded many of the buildings, particularly the Plaza Central.

Although most of the stone structures at San Gervasio now lack their roofs and upper portions of their walls, archaeologists from Harvard and the University of Arizona compiled detailed plans of the remains in the early 1970s that allowed them to create reconstructed views of these buildings. Renderings of these reconstructions are illustrated in the guidebook offered for sale by the Cozumel Parks and Museum Foundation (FPMCQROO), an agency of the Mexican State of Quintana Roo and the agency responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of the State park that surrounds the National Monument of the ruins of San Gervasio, which is administered separately by the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH).

The park is a wildlife refuge and the local iguana population has become quite habituated to humans. Although other species of lizards abound, they are not so trusting. Likewise, the peccaries and coatis that are sometimes spotted as they pass through the ruins tend to keep a safe distance from the tourists.

The ruins cover 4 districts spread out over several square kilometers, but only certain parts of District 1 are open to the public. Most of the District 1 buildings that are accessible lie within or very near the District 1 Central Plaza Group.

San Gervasio is a federal and state park of the United Mexican States and Quintana Roo. The ruins and the various roads to and from each site are overgrown and there are numerous animals, particularly lizards of every size including iguanas that reach over 4 feet (1.2 m) long. As the roads are the only areas not completely shaded by the rain forest surrounding the ruins lizards sun themselves on the road throughout the park, and are relatively acclimatized to humans.

[edit] History At the time these ruins were discovered by a Spanish landing party they had already been abandoned. It is likely that the diseases Maya caught following the introduction of Caucasian explorers made the support of a purely religious site such as this untenable. In the alternative, the loss of their native religion by the Maya and the introduction of Christianity may have instead been the reason for the abandonment of this site.

The first European to visit San Gervasio was Juan de Grijalva, who discovered the island for the Spanish in 1518. The second group of European visitors came with the Hernan Cortes expedition, which stopped by the island on the way to Veracruz in 1519. Both groups were received well by the Maya of Cozumel, and Cortez even wrote a letter for them to present to any Spaniards that came to the island in the future, stating that “there is no gold here and these are peaceful people.” The letter did not help much, however, when the Panfilo de Narvaez expedition arrived in 1520. Several of the expedition’s crewmembers were sick with smallpox. The sickness ran rampant across the island. There have been three mass graves discovered at San Gervasio where these smallpox victims were buried, along with their glass trade-beads given to them by the Spanish.

[edit] Structures [edit] Las Manitas Structure

The handprints of the Las Manitas Structure

Meaning: Little Hands

Constructed during: Terminal-Classic (1000-1200 AD)

Location: Southernmost siteEast of the District 1 Central Plaza

Las The Manitas was probably the residence of the ‘’halach uinik,’’ the Mayan ruler of Ah Huneb Itza Overlord Cozumel during the Terminal Classic. It has an outer room that was probably a residence and an inner sanctum that was probably his personal shrine. It could have been a residential space as well as ceremonial because of the size The name of the building comes from red-colored hand prints on the interior walls.

[edit] Chi Chan Nah

Meaning: Small House

Constructed during: Post Classic

Location: Adjacent, to the East of the Las Manitas

This building was an oratorio, or chapel, used by the family of the halach uinik who lived in the nearby residence of Las Manitas (see above). It consisted of a large outer room with a small inner sanctum containing an altar. In the nearby altar platform (named La Tumba) to the west of Las Manitas, a single vaulted-roofed tomb was discovered in 1973, the only one of its kind found in San Gervasio.

This building consists of an internal and an external room and is the smallest building at San Gervasio. Although the meaning and construction period of this structure is known it was not included in the brochure used to generate this page. The exact purpose of this building remains a mystery, although, due to its architectural characteristics it is likely that it had a ritual function.

There are numerous grave markers in this area, possibly marking the graves of members of the family that resided in the Manitas structure.

[edit] Ka'na Nah Structure

Meaning: Tall House

Constructed during: Post-Classic (1200-1650 AD)

Location: Northwesternmost siteWest of the District 1 Central Plaza Group

This pyramid is the largest single structure at San Gervasio. Due to certain architectural arrangements at in the interior of the small temple room on the top, it is believed that this structure was the center of worship to the goddess Ix Chel this structure may have been the temple of Ixchel described in 1552 by Francisco Lopez de Gomara, when he wrote of a temple "where they kept a very strange idol, very distinct from the others. The body of this great idol was hollow, made of baked clay and fastened to the wall with mortar, in back of which was something like a sacristy, where the priests had a small secret door cut into the side of the idol, into which one of them would enter, and from it speak to and answer those who came to worship and beg favors. With this trickery, simple men were made to believe whatever the god told them." In 1618, Diego Lopez de Cogolludo wrote that "they venerated the statue more than the others, sacrificing to it birds, dogs, their own blood, and even men."

As this is the most remote of all the ruin sites it is often covered in lizards. On the western side of the path to this site is a bench. Behind the bench are one of three natural holes in the ground that can be found throughout the ruins. These holes are called Cenotes (From the maya D'zonot, meaning well) and served as a water source for the inhabitants of the settlement.

[edit] El Arco

The arch at San Gervasio

Meaning: The Arch

Constructed during: Post-Classic (1200-1650 AD)A reconstruction erected in the 1980s

Location: Northeast of District 1 Plaza Group Central, Northwest of Manitas and Chi Chan Nah

This arch is the main entrance from the north and west to San Gervasio’s District 1 Central Plaza GroupPlaza Central. It is a simple arch about five seven feet tall that straddles the main religious pathway (called a ‘’sacbe’’ in Mayan, a word meaning "white road") road heading running northeast from the plaza. It was reconstructed by INAH in the form of similar arches found at other Structures of the same type can be found in northern Yucatán sites on the east coast of Quintana Roo, such as El Cedral, located on the southern portion of Cozumel.

To the north of this arch, on the western edge of the religious pathway lies a small hole in the bedrock, similar to others that can be found throughout the ruins. These natural karst formations are called cenotes (from the Mayan word ‘’d'zonot’’) and served as water sources for the inhabitants of San Gervasio.

[edit] District 1, Central Plaza Group Central

Meaning: Central Plaza

Constructed during: Post-Classic (1200-1650 AD)

Location: Northwest of the entrance to the ruins Southwestern most part of the site

The Plaza Group consists of 6 buildings arranged in a square around a central altar platform. Several of these buildings once had roofs made of timber and thatch, which have since rotted away. Others had roofs of wood beams and poured mortar, while a few had rooms constructed of corbeled arches. All were public buildings and included temples, oratories, altars, and a building used to house visitors who came to participate in religious events taking place in the plaza.

Although the Ka'na Nah structure is taller, the Plaza consists of numerous small buildings in a square shape facing inward very similar to a Roman Forum. There are nine buildings in all, although it is theorized there were wood and straw buildings in the area and that the Plaza buildings themselves were larger than they appear today due to wooden extensions. Most of the wooden structures likely existed between the Plaza and the Manitas structure.

The Plaza buildings had varied purposes. The largest single building in the northwest corner was the large home of a wealthy noble family. For perspective, this large home consists of three rooms while most families shared a single wood and straw hut at the time. The other plaza buildings include storage rooms, shops and a couple temples.

[edit] Nohoch Nah

Meaning: Big House Structure

Constructed during: Terminal-Classic (1000-1200 AD) and Post-Classic (1200-1650 AD)

Location: North of the District 1 Central Plaza With its intact roof, this is one of the best preserved buildings in San Gervasio. Inside, (closed off to the public, but visible through the doorway) the interior walls still show signs of a red, ochre and blue mural. This building was a temple dedicated to Ku’kul’kan, the feathered serpent god.

This large circular building still retains its roof and a large central room. This building is the best preserved of the ruins and still has red, ochre and blue coloration on the interior walls. The purpose of this building is the least well-understood of all buildings at San Gervasio, however, it is speculated that due to its isolation and location, on the main road to the site, its function be ceremonial.

The interior of building is not open to preserve the interior wall coloration but there are no doors, so the interior can be seen to a degree from the outside.

[edit] Los Murcielagos

Meaning: The Bats Structure

Constructed during: Late-Classic (600-1000 AD)

Location: Northeast of Plaza Central, Northwest of El Arco

This large structure is reminiscent of the Plaza.This compound is made up of several rooms and out-buildings situated on a platform and making up the residence of the halach uinik of Cozumel during the late Post-Classic Period.It contains a number of small buildings on the rise of a small artificial stone hill. The structures are more haphazard both in their construction and organization when compared with the Plaza.

This site was the first stone structure build at San Gervasio. Its purpose was a combination of the Plaza and Ka'na Nah sites; for shopping, storage, residences of the wealthy, and worship of Ix Chel. After San Gervasio became more popular the Plaza and Ka'na Nah sites were built later to support the greater demand of pilgrims.

[edit] Sources

The brochure provided by the park. The brochure includes the link [1]. Markers on sites at park. [2]

Let me know what you think! Wizardofcoz (talk) 21:46, 8 May 2012 (UTC)