The Kulubá archaeological site museum in Tizimín has been looted; stones and artifacts stolen from the facility.
The site is abandoned, as INAH (Institute of Anthropology and History) removed its specialists four years ago and there are no indications of the destination of the archaeological pieces it housed.
“The problem,” said local resident Rosendo Cauich, “is that the place is exposed to looters, many of whom come looking for stones because there is no surveillance. Before the pandemic, restoration work was suspended, and until now, there has been no progress.”
It is assumed that these same looters stole the pieces from the abandoned museum, which was located near the entrance of the pre-Hispanic site.
The rural museum, an ancient palapa where visitors were recorded on a logbook, housed several stone pieces belonging to the archaeological ruins, including intact and broken ones.
Until 2020, the pieces and small museum were in place, but during the pandemic, everything was abandoned.
Local residents remembered that in 2018, a convention was signed for the use of archaeological sites to promote social and cultural tourism development in eastern Yucatán; however, Kulubá’s archaeological ruins remain forgotten, according to Agustín Mex, another local resident who makes a living from ranching.
Both locals said they were thrilled when the site’s rescue was announced, as it would have boosted tourism and connected several archaeological zones, providing employment for families in nearby communities such as Emmanuel and San Luis Tzutuk ejido. However, nothing has changed to date.
In 2022, recovery work confirmed the existence of a palace east of the main plaza of Group C, through the liberation and recognition of the foundation, stairs, and columns on top, which would have been used by the elite of the site; this voluminous construction measures approximately 55 meters long by 15 meters wide and six meters high.
Even then-INAH-Yucatán Director Arturo Chab Cárdenas mentioned that with this discovery, investigations were concluded, and in 2023, it would officially open to the public, making it the 18th site in the state to have this category.
Back then he declared:
“Now, Kulubá has five palaces: de los Mascarones, de la U, Los Chenes, and the recently discovered ones of the Pilares and Ocupación de los Itzáes,” he said at the time.
“The exploration and investigation work are already over; now we are in the analysis stage of the artifacts and materials found, such as ceramics, obsidian, shells, and 29 bones,” noted Alfredo Barrera Rubio, INAH researcher.
He indicated that the buildings show two important moments of Mayan civilization in Kulubá: Classic Late (600-900 AD) and Classic Terminal (850-1,050 AD).
Furthermore, one palace shows the peak of Chichén Itzá “it’s very clear in the mural painting, architecture, and ceramics; it’s something that’s evident from the archaeological materials we found.”
With these discoveries, the archaeological site will be more attractive to tourists, not just for its pyramids and buildings that housed Mayan kings, but also for its unique architectural beauty distributed throughout the lowland jungle of Yucatán.
But perhaps one of the most important discoveries was an offering composed of 16 flint and obsidian knives found near a sacrifice altar, which could indicate their ritual or ceremonial character.
The presence of a sacrifice platform in Kulubá suggests that human and animal sacrifices were performed at the site; however, a macroscopic study of footprints revealed that the knives were never actually used.
Now Kulubá is abandoned, with no surveillance and a looted museum, waiting for the dream to be opened to the public and staffed by relevant institutions.
