Zaculeu

Zaculeu was a capital of the Mam, occupied for centuries and besieged by the Spanish in 1525, and it sits on a plateau above the river outside Huehuetenango with plazas, platforms and a ball court. What visitors notice at once is its condition: in the 1940s the site was restored under a programme funded by the United Fruit Company, and the work covered the structures in smooth cement plaster with sharp corners and level surfaces, producing something that looks less like a ruin than a model of one. Archaeologists have criticised it heavily as an intervention that destroyed evidence. It is, at least, extremely legible, and it is quiet.

History

Zaculeu, "white earth" in the Mam, K'iche' and Q'anjob'al languages, was first occupied in the Early Classic, AD 250-600, when its buildings show the influence of Teotihuacan, and it was built on without a break into the Late Postclassic as the capital of the Mam kingdom, later conquered by the K'iche' of Q'umarkaj. In 1525 Spanish forces under Gonzalo de Alvarado besieged the city for several months until its last ruler, Kayb'il B'alam, surrendered because of starvation; the United Fruit Company restored the site in the late 1940s (Wikipedia, Zaculeu).

Highlights

• Cement-plastered platforms - the controversial 1940s restoration.
• A ball court and plazas - the Mam capital laid out clearly.
• The plateau setting - the defensible ground above the river.
• A site museum - the finds and the history of the excavation.

When to go

In the months from November to April, while it is dry. Two hours. It is a short trip from Huehuetenango and easily combined with the town.

Practical notes

The restoration has been widely condemned and what you see is largely twentieth-century cement, not Maya masonry. Interpretation is limited. The site is small. Anyone expecting authentic surfaces will be disappointed.

Nearby

Huehuetenango is east; the Cuchumatanes rise north.

Key facts