PXL_20250422_144451135

Sat, 14 Feb 2026 07:49:23 +0100

Commander Juan Gutiérrez Picón relates in the "Account of Ek'Balam' (1579), that Captain Francisco de Montejo granted him the capital of the district of Tiquibalon or Ek'Balam, containing five villages, for having been one of the conquerors of the region. According to this Account, it also states that Tiquibalon was founded and populated by the great man called Ek'Balam, who bu It most of the five structures at the site and that the rest were constructed by other captains, under his orders.

Ek'Balam is a Yucatec Maya name - apparently taken from ihis leader - which may be translated as the "black jaguar" or "bright star-jaguar". The enormous dimensiones of the buildings are what stand out at this site, as well as the fact that the central part is surrounded by two walls, an uncommon attribute. The most important structures are found within the walled enclosure of less than one square kilometer and distributed within two large, connected plazas, referred to as the Central and South Plazas. Numerous constructions of different sizes are found around these. The walls have five entrances and five sak be'oo (roads) which depart from them in the direction of the four cardinal points. The south side of the wall is a special case, as it has two entrances and two sak be'oob. The most important cultural period at Ek'Balam was the Late Classic (700-1000 AD); however, the early inhabitants arrived earlier and remained living there until after 900 AD, as demonstrated by a few small constructions built after this date. Their characteristics are very different from the older buildings, which makes it clear that the society suffered some changes and dedicated less resources and work to construction.