New Museum Planned for Mexico’s Ancient Maya Complex Chichén Itzá

A new museum will be built at the ancient Maya complex Chichén Itzá in Mexico, considered the country’s most-visited archaeological site, with roughly 2 million visitors each year, the Art Newspaper reported Monday.

Though the project is early in its development, it is expected to replace a smaller structure that closed more than a decade ago, and will highlight some of the Yucatán Peninsula’s latest archaeological discoveries.

Details have so far been sparse, but Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) has previously said $14.4 million has been allocated to build the museum, as well as a new visitor center, and for conservation efforts.

In addition to artifacts unearthed during excavations at or near the complex, the museum’s permanent collection is likely to include selections from the massive trove of artifacts found during the construction of the $8 billion Maya Train project.

The project, which traverses five states—Campeche, Chiapas, Tabasco, Quintana Roo, and Yucatán—with stations near several pre-Columbian sites and several airports, has been controversial. Archaeologists and environmentalists alike have said it could have adverse effects on the landscape, local communities, and regional history.

Among the more than 25,000 immovable assets uncovered along all sections of the railroad traversed so far are ancient roads, 431 ceramic pots, and 423 bones from human burials.

A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Chichén Itzá is believed to have been built between 500 and 600 CE. The vast complex, perhaps best known for the pyramid of the serpent deity Kukulkan (also known as El Castillo in Spanish), is considered one of the new seven wonders of the world.

Additionally, the INAH announced plans to open a section of Chichén Itzá that was previously off limits to the public called Chichén Viejo, where an elite housing complex was uncovered earlier this year.