Aké, a little known site and how it relates to Merida.

View of Hacienda Aké 

I have only recently discovered the little known, and under appreciated, Mayan site of Aké, which is about an hour from Merida to the east. I have heard of it before, but it was closed during the pandemic, as were all the archeological sites here, and was very late to reopen. While what is visible is not a large area and its lack of renown could lead one to think Aké was a minor Mayan city, the ruins themselves tell a different story; they speak of glory and power. Currently located in a small tipical Yucatecan village, and I mean small, which has an open plaza in front of a hacienda which is built by, on top of, and among the remaining ruins. Fronting the open green plaza is the main hacienda house flanked on one side by the remains of a rather tall and steep pyramid. 

Between the pyramid and the main hacienda house is a small chapel, built on top of another Mayan pyramid. You can see through the trees around it, that behind it and the hacienda house, are more ruined buildings, and all of this is before you come to the main archeological site another 100 yards away. Just before the entrance is an impressive long low platform behind a fence, which is not open to the public, but part of what must have been a grand Mayan city. 

Platform visible from the parking area.

Large pyramid after the entrance

Just after the entrance, there is a large multi-stepped pyramid of some size and height, made of large stone blocks, megalithic construction, with the stonework to support large god masks which would have been finished in thick stucco. The pyramid has rounded corners like the massive platform at Izamal. The scale of the god masks, and the large cyclopean blocks date this temple to the pre-Classic period, about 200 A.D. Meso-American pyramid temples are layered, and hard to read when in semi restored condition as this one is. On one side are protruding platforms, which leads me to think that maybe there was another pyramid constructed on top of the pre-Classic one. This is certainly the case in other sites, but I don't know enough about Aké. 

The Palace

View of the Palace and the steps of large blocks

The most photographed and emblematic structure at Aké is this long platform topped by columns, which is referred to as The Palace. While it is more likely a temple rather than residence, the name is a handy way to distinguish it from the other structures. Wide and low, this building is deceptive. Upon approach, you realize the large size of the blocks it is constructed of are truly cyclopean. What appears to be a low platform is higher than one thinks, and it takes effort to scale the steps, which are difficult to climb, and must have been very challenging in antiquity given the average size of the Mayans. The columns on top are in fact quite large and rather tall and they must have supported a roof of wood, much like the forest of columns at Chichen Itza. 

View from top of the Palace

From the top of the Palace is a view of the plaza, where to the right is the large pyramid and beyond that can be seen another tall forested mound, which is is another large pyramid, still awaiting restoration. The verdant forest surrounding the site no doubt hides many other structures, for this was a major Mayan city in antiquity.

Some of the large stone blocks of the early period of construction

The third platform temple of the main plaza

The ruins atAké reveals a long history, from the early pre-Classic megalithic structures to later classic and post classic structures such as the third temple platform flanking the main plaza which is constructed of smaller blocks. This rises in sharply defined levels with a central staircase leading to the top. Without ornament surviving, it is hard to date, but the style of construction indicates that it is likely post classic, up to 1350 or 1400 A.D. 

You might ask why I would pay so much attention to one of the “lessor” Mayan sites. One reason I am so interested in Aké is precisely it is of manageable size and therefor easy to explore and not crowded. In fact the two times I have been there it has been completely empty except for me and the man at the entrance. But what is compelling about Aké are the layers of history evident. The early Classic temples of megalithic construction, along with the later Classic and post classic structures, and the Colonial hacienda built in, over and around them. The scale of the larger structures is impressive, and are reminiscent of Izamal and in fact, it is thought it was affiliated with it, or even a tributary of Izamal. There is a sacred road, sac-be, connecting Aké and Izamal, and the style of megalithic construction and rounded corners of the structures is similar. 

Another reason I find Aké so interesting is that I feel it provides clues as to what the Mayan city of T’ho, where Merida was built on and off,  would have been like. Of that city, nothing remains, but it was said that it had 5 large “cerros”, hills, which were the remains of pyramid temples. The Spanish took down the ancient constructions for the material to build their own churches and buildings, without recording what was there. Deducing what they would have encountered originally is very difficult, but a site like Aké may give an idea. The surviving structures at Aké date from the formative pre-Classic,  2^nd Century A.D., to post-Classic, which is 1000 A.D. to the 14^th Century. It is thought by some that it was inhabited up to the conquest or abandoned just a few years before it. What was there at the time of the Spanish is hard to know and it became the site of a hacienda during the Colonial period. The hacienda is still active and henequen is still being grown and processed there. 

When I first moved to Merida, and was reading about it, one fact I came across stuck that with me, is that it has been continuously inhabited for over 2,000 years. I don’t recall where I saw that, but when you are at a site like Aké where the earliest surviving structures come from the 3^rd Century A.D., one can imagine people were living there for a while before they were constructed. And in fact the earliest Mayan structures at other pre-classic sites were not of stone but of rammed earth, as the Olmecs used at their cities. These would not have survived or were subsumed under later constructions, which is typical for meso-American cultures. Thus when looking at a pyramid in Mexico, almost always the one we see today covers an earlier one, and that another one earlier yet. Sometimes later archeologists remove the later construction as it often suffered badly from the effects of time, revealing an earlier temple protected under it. There are layers of history here. 

In Catherwood and Stephen’s seminal book, “Incidents of Travel in the Yucatan", published in 1843, they relate that the plaza grande in Merida was where the main pyramid temple of the original Mayan city was, and the Spanish took it down for the stone to build the cathedral just to the east of it. In fact Stephens was told there was so much stone, that the entire city was built from this one pyramid. This likely exaggerates the amount from that one pyramid, but between it and the others that were originally here, there would have been enough. The slightly raised platform of the plaza grande is what remains of the original pyramid. This makes sense to me, as these raised areas, which we see in Merida in many of the plazas before the churches, represent an enormous amount of material and work and are most likely traces of Mayan platforms or pyramid bases. 

The Cathedral of Merida

View of interior of the Cathedral

View of interior of the cathedral and the support columns

When looking at the exterior of the cathedral you can see the large and irregular blocks of stone on the corners, and on the interior the large stones used for the columns. These came from the original pyramid where the Plaza Grande is now. The large size of the stones are similar to those found in the temples at Aké and Izamal. Could this be a clue to what was originally here when the Spanish came? 

Chalcatzingo Monument 9: The repatriation of a major Olmec monument

 

Chalcatzingo Monument 9

In early April it was announced in the press that the government of Mexico had negotiated the return of a major Olmec sculptural relief, known as Chalcatzingo Monument 9. Chalcatzingo is an archeological site in the state of Morales which is dates to the early first millennium BCE, and has a number of other significant Olmec monuments.  The piece depicts the earth monster with an open quatrefoil mouth, which is carved through creating an opening. The piece is 1.8 meters, about 6 feet, high and was carved into a large boulder, which was flat or cut down at some point. I have never seen an image of the back to indicate which. 

This is a rare example of a major artistic monument being repatriated to Mexico. The news is full of pieces being repatriated, but very rarely are they significant. This piece is undeniably important. I have known of this piece for years as it is cited in articles and books for its depiction of the earth monster and the quatrefoil opening of its mouth. This quatrefoil is an important element of Meso-American art and architecture. As such, this monument is one of the earliest depictions of it and is considered a formative piece. 

It is unknown when or how this monument, which weighs nearly a ton, left Mexico and came to the US, where it was in a college museum collection. Interestingly, the name of the college or museum is never given in the announcements of this return. I gleaned it was from Colgate College, but have not been able to track down more confirmation of that. I find this odd, it is as if that information is being suppressed, perhaps the institution doesn't want it know that it had the piece at all. The return is being arranged by the Antiquities Tracking Unit of the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. It is unclear where the piece is now, wether in New York or in the place from which it will be transferred. 

This is an example of a piece that should go back to Mexico, in contrast to many of the claims being made on pieces that add nothing to the Mexican cultural heritage and are of negligible artistic or historic  significance. Not every potsherd and minor object needs to come back, the storerooms of the museums are already full of them with multiple examples. This monumental relief however, is singular, and of great significance, I celebrate its return to Mexico and look forward to seeing it in person.

The absurdity of Provenance

This jade ceremonial axe, called a Yue, from the Neolithic period in China sold at the latest "Important Chinese Art" sale at Sotheby's NY, for over one million dollars including fees and commissions. Below is the link to the catalog:

 A jade blade at Sotheby's

It is only 7 1/4 inches long, and while beautiful with its varied color, translucent green and opaque white altered areas, it is not that exceptional. I have owned many as good or better and sold them for a tiny fraction of the price achieved in this auction. The reason for the price is only the provenance, it is said to have an ownership history traceable to the 1950's, and lastly belonged to the "Guennol" collection, the collection of Alistair Bradley Martin and Edith Martin. They did collect some amazing objects, most famously, the Guennol Goddess, (here is a link  Guennol goddess, ) that sold for a record breaking 57 million dollars. 

Photo of Guennol Goddess from Sotheby's

The Martins were buying when things were more available, and they bought very well, purchasing some exceptional pieces, which they then loaned them to museums, legitimizing them. The goddess was on loan to the Brooklyn museum for decades and was a piece I visited on every time I went there. I was distressed when it disappeared from view and then sold at auction. No one knows where it went, it is said to some middle eastern oil monied collection.  However, in contrast to this piece, I feel the high price was justified by the uniqueness and beauty of the piece. This blade is not unique, there are many such ritual jade blades on the market and it is not exceptional of type. In fact it is rather small, I have seen and owned, others larger and of equally or more beautiful jade. There were and are no parallels for the Goddess, there are many others for the blade. 

This sale, almost more than any other in recent years, illustrates the absurd importance of the story around an object being more important than the piece itself. If it had come from a less famous collection, it would have sold for a small fraction of the price. The problem with valuing the story around a piece, rather than the piece itself, is that absent the story, with only the object in front of you, what do you have? The price would indicate that this is an exceptional, rare and paramountly beautiful piece. It is none of those things. It is good of kind, but not exceptional. The Guennol Goddess on the other hand is sin pari, without equal. 

When I started working in antiquities for the revered dealer, Matthias Komor, his advice to me was to look with my eyes and not my ears. It is now the reverse today with the story around the piece is more important than what you see with your eyes. In the future, an object such as this, when the pendulum swings back to valuing the piece returns, this blade will just be a jade ritual blade, whereas the Guennol Goddess will remain a unique and important piece.