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Mexico Archeological Ruins
Mexico has leapt to the forefront and is now home to 27 UNESCO World Heritage Sites more than any other country in the Americas. Explore ancient ruins like Chitzen Itza, Becan and Monte Alban. Discover ancient Mexico and the people that once rulled this country, learn about pre-Columbian Maya civilization. The ruins in Mexico are listed under the states in which they are located.
Campeche
Becan
Becan is an archaeological site of the Maya civilization in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. Becan is located near the center of the Yucatan Peninsula, in the present-day state of Campeche. A system of moats and ramparts were constructed around the site at this time.
Calakmul
Calakmul is the site of one of the largest ancient Maya cities ever uncovered. It was a major seat of power of the Kaan or "Kingdom of the Snake", which first arose further north but built Calakmul into a Late Classic Era superpower ally of Caracol and rival to Tikal.
Edzna
Edzna is a Maya archaeological site in the Mexican state of Campeche, in the north of the state. The most remarkable building at the plaza is the main temple. Built on a platform of 40 meters high, it provides a wide overview of the surroundings.
Kohunlich
The city was elaborately planned and engineered, with raised platforms and pyramids, citadels, courtyards and plazas surrounded with palace platforms, all laid out to channel drainage into a system of cisterns and an enormous reservoir to collect rainwater.
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Chiapas
Bonampak
Bonampak is an ancient Maya archaeological site in the Mexican state of Chiapas. It is well-known for a number of murals, most especially those located within Structure 1 (The Temple of the Murals). The construction of the site's structures dates to the Early Classic period.
Palenque
Palenque is a Maya archeological site near the Usumacinta River in the Mexican state of Chiapas. It is a medium-sized site, much smaller than such huge sites as Monte Alban or Calakmul, but it contains some of the finest architecture, sculpture, roof comb and bas-relief carvings the Maya produced.
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Oaxaca
Mitla
A ceremonial center, founded by the Zapotecs when they dispersed from Monte Albán. Mitla, too, later was seized by the Mixtecs who erected most of the structures. Noteworthy are the small mosaics in the main buildings of The Columns and The Stream complexes.
Monte Alban
Great pyramids and majestic temples of Monte Alban located on a colossal plaza rise above the summit of a mountain leveled with tools fashioned from stone and wood. Founded about 500 B.C., this was the ancient capital of the Zapotecs and one of the first cities in the Americas.
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Puebla
Cholula
The Great Pyramid of Cholula, the world's largest monument and largest Pre-Columbian pyramid by volume, is a huge complex located in Cholula, Puebla, Mexico. The church Iglesia de Nuestra Senora de los Remedios is built on the hill and due to the religious significance the pyramid has not been excavated fully.
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Quintana Roo
Dzibancha
Dzibancha (meaning the writing on wood), was a major site in this Mayan area during the Classic Period (300-900 A.D). The site's most important complex is made of several plazas surrounded by palaces and platforms, the most notable of these plazas care Temples 1 and 2.
Tulum
The ruins are located on the cliffs, along the east coast of the Yucatan Peninsula on the Caribbean Sea. One of the best-preserved coastal Maya sites, Tulum is today a popular site for tourists. Tulum appears to have been an important site for the worship of the Diving or Descending God.
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Yucatan
Chichen Itza
Chichen Itza, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the second most visited of Mexico's archaeological sites. Chichen Itza was a major regional center in the northern Maya lowlands from the Late Classic through the Terminal Classic and into the early portion of the Early Postclassic period.
Uxmal
Uxmal is a large pre-Columbian ruined city of the Maya civilization in the state of Yucatán, Mexico. Uxmal is pronounced "Oosh-mahl". The place name is Pre-Columbian and it is usually assumed to be an archaic Maya language phrase meaning "Built Three Times".
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