Women from San Simón contribute to the archaeological work of the INAH in Uxmal

In her childhood, Nancy Aracely Tzec Aguilar, a Mayan woman living in Yucatán, heard from her grandmother the magnificence of the ancient city of Uxmal.

Someday you will get to know himher grandmother told them. She wondered if that omen would come true, because when she was little, many of the families in the community of San Simón, Yucatán, did not leave their town very often.

She grew up with the idea of ​​one day visiting this archaeological zone – a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization – and, thanks to a program promoted by the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), in the rush to advance rehabilitation work for the Mayan Train, Nancy’s dream came true.

She and other women from her village have joined a project in which they are participating in archaeological work at this ancient Mayan site, located in the region known as Pucc, which flourished in the late Classic period from 600 to 850 AD.

Participating yesterday in the morning press conference of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the general director of INAH, Diego Prieto Hernández, presented a video with testimonies of the experiences of these women in this community participation project, where they do everything from cleaning to marking buildings together with specialists.

This has helped the economy of women in the region, who were not used to earning their own money, since there is a reappropriation of this ancient Mayan space as part of their culture.

The head of the Uxmal archaeological zone, José Huchim Herrera, explained that the aim is to integrate the Mayan inhabitants into the archaeological work. The work of these women has even changed the perception of the indigenous inhabitants of the area regarding this archaeological complex and they have made it their own.

“When we started, people didn’t come, and they said: ‘We’re not going, because it’s a place for gringos, there’s a charge; we’re not going to pay to go in and see the stones.’ But when they get involved, they get to know the buildings, the architectural complexes, and they already know each of the activities that take place during the archaeological project,” Huchim said.

I like the job; they respect me

Today, women tell their families, especially their children, that this splendid archaeological zone was built by their ancestors. This is what our grandparents, our ancestors did.they say.

Wendy Abnal Collí, another participant in this project, recalled that she witnessed when experts discovered an elaborate stele with reliefs on both sides, in October 2022. It was an inexplicable emotionhe noted.

She stressed that collaborating in this project allows her and her colleagues to work, earn their money to supporting our expenses and raising our children; that is very important to us.

Angélica Collí Abnal, also a resident of San Simón, said that working in Uxmal has been fascinating for her.

“It is our heritage; we like to see the pyramids. I come and tell my children: ‘I did that, I worked on this. I like the work they give me there, and they respect me.’ As my husband says, it is our heritage, and our children’s heritage as well; we have to take care of it.”

For the director of Uxmal, this has represented a recovery of his identity. For us it is very important, because women and men are not only aware of the work they do in the exploration and restoration of the monuments of Uxmal, but in the end they meet again, revalue.

Prieto Hernández explained that as part of the INAH’s work on section 3 of the Maya Train – the route for which information was presented yesterday – eight sites are being attended to as part of the Program for the Improvement of Archaeological Zones located in Campeche and Yucatán: Oxkintok, Uxmal, Xlapak, Kabah, Labná, Sayil and Chacmultún, which are part of the Puuc route, as well as Dzibilchaltún, in the southwest of Yucatán.