Tuesday, October 21, 2025

INAH provides updates on new Tulum and Calakmul museum sites

Construction of two museum sites in Tulum and at the Calakmul archaeological zone in Campeche — part of the Maya Train project — are moving forward, said National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) head Diego Prieto Hernández.  

During President López Obrador’s Monday morning press conference, Prieto provided an update on the new sites.

Mexican archaeologist holding newly discovered Mayan artifact
Construction work on the Maya Train project has led to a wealth of new archeological discoveries, which the government will showcase in two new museums. (Martín Zetina/Cuartoscuro)

The Tulum museum will be located in the under-construction nature reserve, Jaguar National Park. According to Prieto, the Tulum museum’s sample script — a visual guide to navigating from room to room in a museum — is 90% complete.

Meanwhile, “the Calakmul [museum] will display many of the archeological objects that have been discovered thanks to the participation of hundreds of specialists,” Prieto said. 

An onsite museum will be built at the Calakmul archaeological site, INAH announced. The current museum is located nearby but offsite. Prieto said that research work in this area was 22% complete, with infrastructure and signage at 20% and 10% completion respectively. 

Prieto also provided updates on the 12 archaeological zones along Sections 5,6 and 7 of the Maya Train route that are benefitting from the Program for the Improvement of Archaeological Zones (Promeza), a government initiative to restore sites along the train route in preparation for increased tourism.

 

Calakmul
The ancient city of Calakmul, Campeche is a World Heritage Site. (INAH)

To date, archaeologists working with Promeza have uncovered thousands of artifacts in these three sections, Prieto said. These include more than 35,000 ruins and/or structures; over 500 artifacts, 200,00 pottery shards; 106 gravesites and more than 1,600 associated natural features.

“Without a doubt, the largest number of vestiges in terms of ruins, dwellings, roads, platforms, housing units, palaces and other types of building have been found in these areas,” Prieto said.

“Recovering its materials will give us a new vision of the future of the Maya civilization in our territory.”

With reports from La Jornada Maya

 

Have something to say? Paid Subscribers get all access to make & read comments.
Bernardo Bravo

Suspect arrested in connection with murder of Michoacán lime growers’ leader

0
Bernardo Bravo, the leader of the Apatzingán Citrus Growers Association (ACVA), had been organizing lime growers to resist an extortion gang named “Los Blancos de Troya" before he was assassinated on Monday.
A person doing grocery shopping at a market in Mexico

Mexican economy contracts 0.6% in September, capping weak Q3

0
An annual economic contraction in the third quarter of 2025 — as appears inevitable — would be the Mexican economy's first year-over-year decline for any quarter since Q1 of 2021.
A Pacific harbor seal

Pacific harbor seals vanishing from Baja California waters, study finds

1
A study led by the Center for Scientific Research and Higher Education of Ensenada (CICESE) observed a 61.2% population decline on the Baja California Peninsula from 2016 to 2022.
BETA Version - Powered by Perplexity