Station 14 of 21
Large marine snails. Wild peccary bones. Crocodile remains. Ceramic vessels filled with food and water. What archaeologists discovered inside this platform tells a fascinating story about the Maya journey to the underworld.
You're in the presence of one of Tulum's most intimate sacred spaces—Funerary Platform No. 9, where ancient Maya families came to honor their dead and maintain connections across the boundary between worlds. This modest stone platform, dating to the Late Post-Classic period between 1200 and 1450 AD, sits just to the left of the House of Chultun.
Notice the stepped profile and the escalones—stairways that lead up to the burial level. This elevated design wasn't merely architectural preference. By raising the dead above the ground, the Maya created a sacred zone separating the realm of the ancestors from the world of the living, while also protecting precious remains from flooding and animals.
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