For the Lacandon Maya, the crumbling stone structures scattered through the rain forests of Chiapas, Mexico, and Petén, Guatemala, are not abandoned remains of a lost civilization. A new study finds that this Indigenous group considers the ancient Maya ruins to be living houses where powerful gods still reside.
The research, published in the journal Latin American Antiquity, was led by Joel W. Palka of the School of Human Evolution and Social Change at Arizona State University. Palka and his colleagues drew on more than three decades of fieldwork with Lacandon communities in Nahá, Mensabäk and Lacanja.
Their findings combine archaeological evidence with interviews gathered during pilgrimages and everyday conversations with community members. The study notes that the Lacandon do not even use the word “ruins” for these sites. Instead, they call them “yatoch k’uh,” or houses of the divine.
The belief rests on three related concepts, k’uh, kuxa’an and pixan, describing a life force and soul the Lacandon believe runs through all people, animals, plants and places. Larger, better preserved buildings are thought to hold more powerful deities. Smaller stone mounds are linked to lesser spirits.
The deadly arrow and the sacred ruins of Palenque and Yaxchilán
Researchers point to a story passed down through missionary accounts to show how seriously this belief is taken. A young Lacandon hunter once shot an arrow that missed its target and struck an ancient temple wall. Believing he had hit a god’s home, the boy dropped his bow and walked home. He died soon after, convinced he had angered the being who lived there.
The study identifies specific ruins tied to specific gods. Palenque is described as the birthplace of Hachäkyum, the central deity who Lacandon say later moved to the ruins of Yaxchilán along the Usumacinta River.
A headless stone statue at Yaxchilán is believed to represent this god. Lacandon tradition holds that the world will end when the statue’s head is reattached.
How Lacandon Maya turn ruins into houses of the gods
To communicate with these unseen residents, Lacandon travel on long pilgrimages to burn incense and leave food and offerings. They hope to persuade the gods to provide rain, good harvests, successful hunts and protection from illness.
One woman, identified in the study only as Nuk, recalled her father making these trips to pray for his pregnant wife and children. She described the ruins as places filled with sacred strength. The Lacandon avoid living near the ruins, believing the gods have told them in dreams to stay away.
The study also notes that Postclassic Maya people, ancestors of today’s Lacandon, left incense burners at these same sites centuries ago. That suggests the belief that ancient Maya ruins serve as houses for the gods stretches back hundreds of years across Maya history.
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