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Itinerary for The MAA’s 3rd Annual Mathematical Study Tour
Ancient Mayan Mathematics in Yucatan and Chiapas, Mexico

May 23 - June 2, 2005

Fly into Merida International Airport and check-in at the Hotel Caribe, a colonial building located in the city’s second oldest plaza, Plaza Hildago. The airport is in town and about 15 minutes from the hotel.

The morning will begin with breakfast and an orientation meeting. We will go over the course itinerary and give some general information about how to get around in Mexico (where to get money, how to call home, etc). Between 9 am and noon the group will take a scenic tour of Merida and visit the Regional Anthropology Museum. After a lunch break, the afternoon will be dedicated to seminars explaining the basics of ancient Mayan calendars, geometry, and astronomy. The evening will be free to explore the town and/or attend cultural events.

The entire day will be spent at the ruins of Chichen Itza. The city’s origins, politics, and religion will be discussed but the main foci will be on its geometry and astronomy. Buildings will be measured for evidence of Mayan geometry and we will visit Chichen Itza’s famous astronomical observatory, El Caracol. The “sacred cenote”, where human sacrifices were made, will be part of the afternoon tour. The evening will be free.

The group will journey to Dzibilchaltun and visit the Temple of the Seven Dolls, specifically designed to interact with the equinox sunrise. We’ll also tour a colonial Spanish church built in the middle of the pre-Hispanic plaza. We will return to Merida for an afternoon seminar on ancient Maya calculations as seen through the Dresden Codex “Venus Pages”. The evening will be free to enjoy the many cultural events in Merida.

We will check out of our hotel and travel to the ruins of Mayapan, the last Mayan capital of the Yucatan which housed the council chambers of the regional lords. It rose after the fall of Chichen Itza and imitated it by building smaller versions of Chichen Itza’s Caracol and the Castillo Temples. The group will travel on to Mani for lunch. This is the location where Bishop De Landa’s 1562 auto-da-fe took place, the burning of thousands of Mayan books. Later in the afternoon we will visit the Loltun Caves, where rock art dating back to 10,000 BC can be seen. We arrive at our hotel by the ruins of Uxmal and prepare for an early evening lecture on Mayan calendars.

The day will begin with a tour of Uxmal, whose ruins some say represent the height of Mayan urban design. The group will take measurements of a few of its main structures and discuss the Venus orientations exhibited by some of its temples. After lunch back at the hotel, the group will follow the highway south to visit the archeologically contemporary ruins of Kabah and Labna. All of the sites this day are part of the Mayan “Terminal Classic” period, a time when Mayan ideas of religion and political organization were changing. That evening we will attend a laser show at the ruins of Uxmal.

After a casual breakfast, the group will check out of the hotel and begin the journey south to the State of Chiapas. On the way, we’ll stop at the ruins of Edzna, one of the few sites to survive the Classic period collapse. There we will climb the Temple of Cinco Pisos. Continuing south, we’ll stop at the fishing village of Champoton for a fresh seafood lunch. By dinner time, we will reach Palenque.

We spend an entire day at the ruins of Palenque. In the morning we’ll visit the site center and discuss how its set of three temples weaved geometry, astronomy, and political propaganda all into one incredible architectural complex. During the afternoon, we will visit the museum and descend into the tomb of Pakal, Palenque’s greatest king. An evening lecture will present a further discussion of sacred geometry and astronomy at Palenque.

There will be an early departure for the ruins of Bonampak. Within an hour, we will stop at a hidden jungle restaurant for breakfast. By mid-morning, we will be at the ruins and viewing the best preserved murals in the Mayan world. Covering three rooms from top to bottom, these beautiful murals tell the story of Lord Chan Muan and his battles against the enemies of Bonompak. Lunch will take us to the village of Lacanja and meet the locals (Lacandons), a distinct Mayan people, whose numbers are less that 1,000 today. We will enjoy an hour long hike by a Lacandon guide to a secluded waterfall where we can swim and relax. In the evening, back in Palenque, we will have an informal session on how to calculate with Maya bars, dots, and zeroes.

The last morning in Palenque will be free to explore the town, return to the ruins, or relax by the hotel pool. At noon, we will check out of the hotel and travel to Villahermosa where the group will visit La Venta Park, where the gigantic monuments from the Olmec site of La Venta were transported in the 1950s. Check in to our hotel will be in the late afternoon followed by a final group farewell dinner.

Early transport to Villahermosa airport and flights back to the USA or other destinations.

Lodging

Merida: Hotel Caribe - private bath, AC, cable TV, room service, rooftop pool, phones, free internet access.
Uxmal: Villas Arqueologicas - private bath, AC, pool, on-site restaurant, phones
Palenque: Hotel Maya Tulipanes - private bath, AC, cable TV, on-sit restaurant, phones, internet access.
Villahermosa: Hotel Cencali - private bath, AC, pool, cable TV, on-site restaurant, phones.

Transportation

Private 44 passenger bus with AC and VCR.

Fees include: lodging, ground transportation, breakfasts, lectures, ruins guides, ruins entry fees, workbook, and several instructors (UT-Austin) who are experts on the mathematics and science of the Mayans.

Cost: 2,800 per participant
Cost Saving Option: Share a room with another participant and pay $2450