Sacbé Xahxche

Today my dad and I made our way to pick up Abel in Santa Elena and take a hike out to the archaeological site known as Sacbé Xahxche, though it is usually refereed to simply as Sacbé. The site is located on an ejido about 10 kilometres from Santa Elena  and is accessible through a road which communicates several different fields (unidades agricolas). There are absolutely no signs to let you know when you have arrived to the correct ejido, and much less any indicators to let you know where the site is to be found within the surrounding jungle, so a guide is an absolute necessity. Though there are about a dozen structures which you can explore at the site the most impresive is known simply as Structure 1, Group A... though Abel informed me that it is also known as "Casa de los mascarones" (house of the masks). This name obviously refers to the two stacked mosaic style Chaac rain god masks which adorn the western portico.  Aside from the masks there are several typical Puuc esthetic are geometric features such as stones which form a stepped-fret design, horizontal rows of X-shaped adornments and short columnlike squarred spirals. Structure 2 which is located to the south-east is partialy standing and is characteristic of an early Puuc-style (670-770 A.D.) This sturcture faces south and is suported by lintels, though only the center one is intact. However, the other lintels are still observable in the rubble of the building. Towards the south west, structures 3 and 4 are mostly entirely fallen.  The site also has at least two chultunes (artificial water storage wells)... the one to the side of structure 1 is particularly noteworthy for its state of preservation. As I mentioned there are several other structures including a rather large pyramid, however it seems that do to looting it has been left fairly bared. In any case, if you are looking for an adventure and visiting an archaeological site which has been largely untouched but is fairly accessible, maybe an a visit to Sacbé is in order. Anyway, hope you enjoy the photos!

Fall in Oslo

Fall for me is always bitter sweet, sure its really pretty and full of lots of opportunities to take nice photos... but it is obviously also the prelude to winter, and if you know me you know I absolutely HATE winter. In any case I will be getting a reprieve from the weather which is beginning to settle in here in Scandinavia as I am going to Yucatan for a month starting next week. Unfortunately I will be travelling alone as Jeanette is not able to take the time off and I need to take care of some business in Merida and also do some additional fieldwork for my masters thesis. Though I am not thrilled about the prospect of not seeing my wife for a month... I am sure I will have a nice time with my friends and family... and hopefully get some productive work done! Anyway that is all for now...

Chacmultun with dad!

A couple of months ago I made way way with my dad to Chacmultun for a day of rummaging through the jungle and enjoying a little archaeology. I had been to the site last year but my father said he had not been there for approximately thirty years so he was very interested to see the result of all the research and excavations done over that period. I am just posting the pictures now because I just this week found the photos on a memory card which I had misplaced. Chacmultun which means "mound of red rocks" in the local Yucatec-Mayan language, is located in the municipality of Tecax, on the foothills of the Puuc valley and is truly impressive for its architectural beauty and gorgeous landscape. Chacmultun is representative of Puuc style architecture and is comparable to other sites in the area such as Kabah and Labna, however perhaps due to its out of the way location it is seldom visited by anyone... perhaps in great part due also to the fact that it is not an official part of the "Puuc route". Definitely worth the trip!

Cholula

Well it has been a few weeks since I returned to Norway, but there are few photos from the summer  I haven not managed to get up yet. Anyway in this post I would like to share a few photos I took in Cholula Puebla. The city just outside of the state capital (Puebla, Puebla) is most famous for the immense pyramid which dominates the surrounding landscape. The pyramid known as Tlachihualtepetl in the Nahuatl language means artificial mountain and due to its size it is easy to see why. The structure stands at 55 metres and measures 400 x 400 meters around... so yea, massive. In 1594 the Spanish conquistadors destroyed the altars atop the structure and constructed a catholic church on the summit of the pyramid which although has suffered many iterations still stands today. Climbing the pyramid also offers a great view of the valley and the surrounding volcanoes. Hope you enjoy the photos.

Puebla de los Angeles

After being in Mexico city for a few days visiting with our good friends Rafa and Rita; Jeanette my parents and I took a three day trip to the city of Puebla located in the central Mexican state of the same name. Legend state that the city was founded by the bishop of Tlaxcala who followed the instructions of a group of angels who set the city limits and established its grid. What ever really happened Puebla was founded in 1531 and is now one of the most beautiful and important cities in the country. The city is well known among lovers of Mexican cuisine for being the birthplace of two of the countries most famous dishes (Mole Poblano and Chiles en Nogada). The city is quite large and is by some estimates the fourth largest city in Mexico, however the downtown area is fairly laid-back and chalk-full of  beautiful plazas, churches and great restaurants and shops (many of which specialize in Talavera). Well thats all for now!