THE DISCOVERY OF THE WALLED CITY
OF TULUM
By Adriana Veláquez Morlet
During the second expedition
of Juan de Grijalva (1518), his chronicler tells that he
saw a city “as big as Seville”, which could have been
the great, densely populated, prehispanic city of Tulum.
However the campaign to colonize the Yucatan Peninsula –
initiated shortly after the arrival of the Spaniards –
had such a devastating effect that by 1579 the splendour
of Tulum was converted into a city in ruins.
With the consolidation of
Spanish presence in the area Tulum was brought under the
jurisdiction of Valladolid, to where the majority of the
indigenous inhabitants were transported. The place,
known as Tzamá, paid very little taxes due to its small
population. The entire region was removed, leaving just
a military outpost.
There is practically no
information on the period between 1650 and 1842; The
East Coast was so far from Spanish control that they
opted to abandon it. We only know of a few journeys from
Merida and Campeche to obtain precious woods, meat,
turtle eggs, turtle shell for making combs, and grey
amber ( a bile secretion of the sperm whale), that was
used as a perfume fixative and for making jewelry. In
the 18th century the coast of what is now Quintana Roo
was known as the Amber Coast.
The territory was very
dangerous and stories were told of the savagery of its
inhabitants, such as during the shipwreck of Nuestra
Señora de los Milagros or El Matancero in 1741, which
ran aground to the north of Tulum, and whose survivors
told of how they escaped the massacre by the local
inhabitants. These lands were soon of interest to the
English sailors, who, between 1776 and 1777, began raids
in search of grey amber and wood for trafficking.
There are no more references
to Tulum until 1842, when John Stephens and Frederick
Catherwood arrived there guided by the son of a pirate.
They were very impressed by the conservation of the
site, and in spite of the mosquitos “making their stay
miserable” they wrote the first description of the
ancient city, making it known to the western world.
During the outbreak of the cruel War of the Castes Tulum
found itself at the centre of the conflict. In 1871
Tulum was a Sanctuary of the Cruz Parlante, headed by
María Ucab, the “Patron Saint of the People”.
Archaeologists such as
Sylvanus G. Morley arrived and Samuel. Lothrop, the
compiler of the most complete reference text on the
architecture of the region. There were also some Mexican
researchers such as Miguel Ángel Fernández, who in 1937
carried out a very complete architectural survey in
Tulum.
In 1954 William Sanders began
the first architectural excavation and in 1969 the
highway between Carrillo Puerto and Tulum was built,
with which its role as a tourist attraction began. In
the seventies a more direct federal intervention was
begun by the National Institute of Anthropology and
History and for many the definitive abandonment of the
walled city of Tulum by the Maya. We believe that this
is not so, since the Maya and Tulum will always form an
inseparable unit.
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