The Archeotourist — 03

Visiting the Yucatan, Homeland of the Northern Lowland Maya

Part One — The Deep Past.

The Maya cultural area is large and has three distinct zones

The Yucatan Peninsula, shown here, is the easternmost part of Mexico. It is bordered on the east by the Caribbean Sea. On the west and north by the Gulf of Mexico. And on the south by the mountainous spine of Central America.

Situated in the tropics it has two seasons. A cool dry season from December to May, when there is no rainfall. And a hot wet season from June to November of daily rainfall.

Geologically the peninsula is basically a giant slab of limestone.

It is the remains of a series of gigantic reef systems that have formed and reformed here as ocean levels have risen and fallen over the millennia. Understanding this geology is necessary for understanding everything about life in this place since humans first started living here sometime in the last 20,000 years.

Karstic (limestone) geologies have some distinctive characteristics. Firstly, they are porous.

Rainwater falling on them sinks into the ground rapidly, like water being poured on a sponge.

Secondly, they are soft and dissolve easily in weakly acidic solutions.