The Maya site of X'Cambó was an important salt production and distribution center on the northern coast of Yucatán. Neither lakes nor rivers run nearby, and so the city's freshwater needs were served by six local "ojos de agua", ground level aquifers.
X'Cambó was first occupied during the Protoclassic period, ca AD 100-250, and it grew into a permanent settlement by the early Classic period of AD 250-550.
One reason for that growth was due to its strategic position close to the coast and the river Celestún. Moreover, the site was connected to the Xtmpu salt flat through a sacbe, the typical Maya road.
X'Cambó became an important salt-making center, eventually distributing this good in many regions of Mesoamerica. The region is still an important salt production area in Yucatán. In addition to salt, the trade shipped to and from X'Cambo likely included honey, cacao and maize.
- Learn more about the importance of salt for the ancient Maya and other Mesoamerican people.
Archaeology at X'Cambo
X’Cambó has a small ceremonial area organized around a central plaza. Main buildings include various pyramids and platforms, such as the Templo de la Cruz (Temple of the Cross), the Templo de los Sacrificios (Temple of Sacrifices) and the Pyramid of the Masks, whose name derived from the stucco and painted masks that decorate its façade.
Probably because of its important trade connections, artifacts recovered from X’Cambó include a large number of rich, imported materials.
Many burials included elegant pottery imported from Guatemala, Veracruz, and the Gulf Coast of Mexico, as well as figurines from the Island of Jaina. X'cambo was abandoned after ca 750 AD, likely a result of its exclusion from the reoriented Maya trade network.
Colonial Period
After the Spanish arrived at the end of the Postclassic period, X’Cambo became an important sanctuary for the cult of the Virgin. A Christian chapel was constructed over aPre-hispanic platform.
Sources
This glossary entry is a part of the About.com guide to Ancient Mesoamerica, and the Dictionary of Archaeology.
AA.VV. 2006, Los Mayas. Rutas Arqueologicas: Yucatan y Quintana Roo. Edición Especial de Arqueologia Mexicana, num. 21 (www.arqueomex.com)
Cucina A, Cantillo CP, Sosa TS, and Tiesler V. 2011. Carious lesions and maize consumption among the Prehispanic Maya: An analysis of a coastal community in northern Yucatan.American Journal of Physical Anthropology 145(4):560-567.
McKillop Heather, 2002, Salt. White Gold of the Ancient Maya, University Press of Florida, Gainesville