Hardly the kind of place one would expect 50,000 people to have once lived. But when talking to Traci Ardren, the lead archaeologist here, Chunchucmil came to life. People lived here from as early as 250 B.C. up to a couple hundred years before the Spanish came. They survived while things collapsed down south. Unlike Tikal and other large Maya cities, Chunchucmil never had to worry about its local food supply.
Archaeologists think that the city's residents traded salt for food that was grown elsewhere.
If food wasn't available locally, they could trade for it with their neighbors. Chunchucmil differed in another way as well. The pottery found here makes Traci think that this was a multi-ethnic city, with people from all over Mesoamerica. Finally, power seems to have been shared here more than it was at other sites. Diggin' it, - John Fox MayaQuest is produced by Classroom Connect as part of The Quest Channel series of online adventures.