Anthropolo-G.: Cancuen, the City of Serpents

The Road (and River) to Cancuen

The ancient city of Cancuén could not be more aptly named: In Q’eqchí Maya it translates to 'Place of Serpents'.
To the Maya and many other early Americans, serpents were among the most significant of the many creatures inhabiting their world. They held widespread roles in religion and symbolism thanks in large part to their ability to be “reborn” by shedding their skin regularly and also to entirely consume their prey.

After recoiling into the rain forest for over ten centuries, isolated from the rest of the world as the Maya empire crumbled and the age of colonialism ensued, the Place of Serpents is now slowly shedding its own skin.

The ruins lie deep within the largest remaining swath of rain forest outside of the Amazon--Guatemala's Peten. Along the barely marked dirt road, homes built of sticks and roofed with matted reeds are nearly enveloped by the surrounding foliage.

Like in any Latin American nation, a leisurely drive through Guatemala can be its own cultural experience, and this jarring route is no exception. Low hills roll through indigenous farmlands, blanketed to the horizon with broad pastures clad in corn, coffee, beans, and sugar.

The road ends at the edge of the Rio Pasion, where a narrow wooden boat serves as the next means of transportation.

Water buffaloes stand knee-deep in the dark muck alongside the river, dropping their massive silvery heads for a drink and small respite from the sweltering heat.

Beginning around 300 A.D., the Maya of Cancuén constructed this sprawling enclave on a strategic location near the confluence of three of the region’s main navigable rivers.

These waterways linked the people and goods of Guatemala's northern lowlands with the southern highlands. A major trade route developed, spurred by a lucrative jade and obsidian industry, creating a wealth that surpassed other cities.

The resulting prestige helped seal alliances and foment rivalries—rivalries that most likely led to the city’s demise.

War Crimes in the Rain Forest

Sometime in the ninth century A.D., more than thirty men, women, and children were executed by lance, spear, and ax, near the front of this palace. Their dismembered bodies were tossed into a sacred pool accompanied by precious jades, seashells, and jaguar fang necklaces—items of prestige worn by who was to be the last ruling class of Cancuén.
Soon, as with the other Maya centers, the citizens abruptly abandoned their homes, mysteriously drawing to a close one of the greatest empires the world has ever seen.

With over 170 rooms and eleven courtyards, the palace is the largest yet discovered in the Maya world. Stucco still clings to some of the walls, and archaeologists have been painstakingly excavating the structure when the rains subside and the buzz of mosquitoes equals the scrape of their trowels.

Around the site, several stellae (carved stone monuments recording royal and astronomical events) lay unfinished, further evidence of the city’s sudden abandonment. On one an entire face has been removed with a looter’s chain saw and now, according to our guide, belongs to a private collector in Europe.

The Cancuén Archaeological Project is part of a larger program titled Puerta al Mundo Maya—Gateway to the Maya World. It is handled completely by local Q’eqchí communities and benefits social and economic development. It also allows them to retain control of the cultural and natural resources of their ancestral land. Funded by a group of international organizations, the main goal of the project is to build a corridor of sustainable eco-tourism and forest conservation.

Several tourist agencies feature trips to Cancuen, and since few travelers are aware of the ruins it remains one of the lesser visited of Guatemala's family of historical and cultural sites. Also, because of the nature of the project, revenues earned by attendance directly helps the local communities- that is, the contemporary Maya are embracing and benefiting from the historic legacy of their ancestors.