El Meco, an archaeological site located 178 kilometers from downtown Cancun, played a significant role in pre-Hispanic times. It served as a crucial port within a network where goods were exchanged from the coasts of Honduras and possibly northern Colombia. Recent studies in physical anthropology have revealed that this area, situated on the Caribbean coast, was a hub of migration during pre-Hispanic times, according to Margarito Molina, director of INAH Center Quintana Roo.
This pre-Columbian site recently reopened to the public following extensive research, archaeological intervention, restoration, and infrastructure development. The infrastructure work, which included the creation of visitor reception areas, ticket offices, toilets, trails, signage, and a room for preserving and conserving the discovered remains, was carried out by Sedena. The site also features a bookstore and a craft store.
The archaeological work was conducted by the Archaeological Zone Improvement Program (Promeza), announced in Chetumal in May 2021 by then-President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. The plan was to work on the land of the sites that were on the path of the Mayan Train. El Meco was one of the 11 sites in Quintana Roo that benefited from this project. The area is named after the pink flamingo, a popular bird in the region.
El Meco, dating back to the late Postclassic period (1000 to 1250 AD), was inhabited upon the arrival of the Europeans. Like Cozumel, it was a pilgrimage center. The site has been visited or worked on by archaeologists since 1877, starting with Augustus and Alice Le Plongeon, the same couple who worked in Chichen Itza. In 1891, Teobert Maler provided one of the first descriptions of its most significant structure, El Castillo, which stands at 12.5 meters in height, making it the tallest in the Eastern Coast region.
Between 1910 and 1920, expeditions by the Carnegie Institute of Washington, United States, and Samuel Lothrop suggested that El Castillo was similar to structures in Tulum, Muyil, and Xel Ha. This led to the proposal of the architectural style known as Eastern Coast. Lothrop also suggested that the castles of El Meco and Tulum functioned as pilgrimage centers.
From the 1970s onwards, the INAH began investigating the settlement, with archaeologists such as Peter Schmidt, Elia Trejo, Rocío González, Luis Leira, and Ashuni Romero contributing to the research. Ashuni Romero, who is currently responsible for the site, reports that they are conducting physical anthropology studies to understand the origins of the site's inhabitants. Preliminary data suggests a history of local migration on the coast of Quinta Roo, dating back to pre-Hispanic times.
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