Yoʼokop facts for kids

Yoʼokop is an ancient Maya city located in the Cochuah region of central Quintana Roo, Mexico. This area is famous for the Caste War of Yucatán, a conflict in the 1800s that led to an independent Maya state.

The site of Yoʼokop was first shared with the public by archaeologist Herbert Spinden and journalist Gregory Mason in the 1920s. However, serious study of the site only began in the 21st century. Recent archaeological work at Yoʼokop has shown that it was a large and important city before the Spanish Conquest. People lived there continuously from the early Formative Period all the way through the Postclassic Period. We know this from the types of pottery pieces and buildings found there. The name of the site, Yoʼokop, refers to a large, shallow lake at the southern end of the settlement. ("Yo" is a word like "the," and "Okop" means "lake.")

Discovering Yoʼokop: An Ancient Maya City

Yoʼokop was a very impressive city. It has a pyramid (called S4W1-1) that is 28 meters (about 92 feet) tall. This pyramid is only two meters shorter than the famous Castillo pyramid at Chichen Itza! The city is built around four main groups of stone buildings. These groups are connected by special raised roads called sacbeob. In the areas between these large stone groups, there were houses made from materials that don't last long, like wood and thatch. These houses are not easy to see today.

Exploring Yoʼokop: The Archaeology Project

An archaeology project started at Yoʼokop in 2000. It was led by Justine Shaw and Dave Johnstone. By 2009, their team had studied Yoʼokop by creating maps, analyzing pottery, and digging small test pits. Their early findings showed how the city was organized, how it traded with other places, and how it changed over time.

Because the area was so important, in 2003, they expanded their project to survey the wider Cochuah region. One researcher, Johan Normark, did important work using ideas about how objects and people's actions shape history.

Art and Rulers of Yoʼokop

Researchers Linnea Wren and Travis Nygard have studied the large carvings and sculptures at Yoʼokop. They looked at how these artworks showed sacred places and how they related to different roles for men and women.

The sculptures at the site include:

• Two tall, freestanding stone slabs called stelae that show male rulers.
• A wall panel showing a male ball player.

All three of these carvings are in low-relief, meaning they don't stick out much from the stone.

The site also has carefully carved stone steps with hieroglyphic writing. These steps describe a queen named Kaloomte Na Chaʼak Kab. She might have ruled Yoʼokop under a powerful leader known as Sky Witness from a city called Calakmul or Dzoyola. The carved steps were not found in their original places.

Before Shaw and Johnstone's project, Reginald Wilson had studied the site and published his findings in the 1970s. The Carnegie Institution of Washington also made a short visit to the site in the 1950s.

See also

In Spanish: Yo'okop para niños