page_title: San Gervasio (Maya site)
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: San Gervasio (Maya site) / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Red hand prints still visible on the structure within the ruins of San Gervasio
context_page_description: San Gervasio is an archaeological site of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization, located in the northern third of the island of Cozumel off the northeastern coast of the Yucatán Peninsula, in what is now the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. San Gervasio's pre-Hispanic name was Tantun Cuzamil, Mayan for Flat Rock in the place of the Swallows. The ruins were once a hub of worship of the goddess Ix Chel, an aged deity of childbirth, fertility, medicine, and weaving. Pre-Columbian Maya women would try to travel to San Gervasio and make offerings at least once in their lives. In 1560, the Spanish historian, Diego Lopez de Cogolludo, wrote: "The pilgrims arrive at Cozumel for the fulfillment of their vows to offer their sacrifices, to ask help for their needs, and for the mistaken adoration of their false gods." The bishop of Yucatán, Diego de Landa, wrote in 1549 that the Maya "held Cozumel in the same veneration as we have for pilgrimages to Jerusalem and Rome, and so they used to go to visit and offer presents there, as we do to holy places; and if they did not go themselves, they always sent their offerings."
context_section_description: The first European to visit San Gervasio was Juan de Grijalva, who discovered the island for the Spanish in 1518.  The second group of European visitors came with the Hernan Cortes expedition, which stopped by the island on the way to Veracruz in 1519.  Both groups were received well by the Maya of Cozumel, and Cortez even wrote a letter for them to present to any Spaniards that came to the island in the future, stating that “there is no gold here and these are peaceful people.”  The letter did not help much, however, when the Panfilo de Narvaez expedition arrived in 1520.  Several of the expedition’s crewmembers were sick with smallpox. The sickness ran rampant across the island.  There have been three mass graves discovered at San Gervasio where these smallpox victims were buried, along with their glass trade-beads given to them by the Spanish.
caption: Las Manitas (the hand prints are visible in the back, right of the right column)
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