Comalcalco
The only Classic Maya city built entirely with fired clay bricks — and home to the largest known collection of inscribed pre-Columbian bricks in existence.
At a glance
In the coastal lowlands of Tabasco, 55 kilometres northwest of Villahermosa, the ancient Maya city of Comalcalco presents a unique architectural anomaly in Mesoamerican archaeology: its temples and palaces were built entirely from fired clay bricks. The nearest stone quarry was 300 kilometres away, so the Chontal Maya who built this city instead manufactured standardised bricks from local river clay and fired them in kilns — making Comalcalco the only Classic Maya city known to have used brick as the primary building material, and one of only two major pre-Columbian Mesoamerican brick-built sites. More than 4,000 of these bricks bear carved inscriptions on their back faces, a collection so large that the great majority remain unstudied. The site also possesses a 2012 discovery of global resonance: a brick bearing the Maya Long Count date corresponding to December 21, 2012.
Key facts
- Location: Comalcalco municipality, Tabasco, Mexico (55 km NW of Villahermosa)
- GPS: 18.2703° N, 93.2051° W
- Period: c. 300–800 AD (Classic Maya, Chontal)
- Unique feature: Only Classic Maya city built with fired clay bricks; nearest stone was 300 km away
- Inscribed bricks: ~4,000 recovered; majority unstudied
- Notable find: Brick with Maya date for December 21, 2012 (13th b’ak’tun completion), discovered 2012
- Tallest structure: Great Pyramid (~25 m); Acropolis complex with three pyramids
History
Comalcalco was the western capital of the Chontal Maya, a maritime people distinct from the highland Maya of Chiapas and Guatemala. The Chontal controlled the coastal trade routes of the Gulf of Mexico and may have maintained direct contact with the great city of Teotihuacan in central Mexico — and possibly with trading partners as far as Ecuador. The city’s dynastic history, recorded in its brick and stucco inscriptions, traces a succession of rulers from approximately 300 to 800 AD. Its rulers built in a style closely related to that of Palenque — the great city 120 kilometres to the southeast — using the same corbelled vault architecture and the same Palenque-style figural stucco reliefs, but realised in brick and lime plaster rather than stone.
A remarkable discovery in 2012 added one more unique distinction: researchers identified a brick at Comalcalco bearing a Maya Long Count date corresponding to December 21, 2012 — the day the Maya calendar’s 13th b’ak’tun cycle completed, an event that had generated worldwide attention and widespread (unfounded) apocalyptic speculation. The brick is one of only two known Maya artefacts to explicitly reference this date. The site has been excavated by INAH since the 1970s; new areas of the Acropolis continue to yield finds.
What you see
The site’s major monuments are the three-pyramid Acropolis complex (the largest pyramid rising approximately 25 metres), the Great Pyramid, the Palace, and several ball courts. All are constructed in Classic Maya corbel-vault style — the distinctive pointed arch produced by progressively overlapping courses of masonry — but the bricks were faced with white lime stucco and painted. Surviving stucco relief panels on the Palace depict figures in full Classic Maya court dress identical to Palenque-style reliefs, demonstrating that the brick construction was a practical adaptation to local materials, not a different architectural tradition.
Several vaulted tomb chambers survive intact, their brick walls plastered and painted, their interiors containing jade jewellery and polychrome ceramic vessels. The inscribed bricks — most of them visible in the construction fabric of the walls rather than displayed — are scattered throughout the site: glyphs, human figures, animals, abstract geometric patterns carved into the unfired clay before kiln-firing. The on-site museum displays selected examples and explains the brick-manufacturing process.
Practical information
- Hours: Daily 9:00–17:00 (last entry 16:30)
- Admission: Approx. MXN 85 (INAH federal site); includes on-site museum
- On-site: Museum with inscribed bricks and stucco reliefs; basic facilities
- Photography: Freely permitted
- Combine with: Villahermosa’s La Venta Park (Olmec colossal heads) — 55 km southeast, easy day combination
Getting there
From Villahermosa: 55 km northwest on highway MEX-180D (approximately 45 minutes). Buses and colectivos depart regularly from the first-class bus terminal in Villahermosa to the town of Comalcalco; the archaeological site is a short taxi ride from the town centre. From Palenque: approximately 150 km northwest (2.5 hours) via Macuspana — a worthwhile full-day combination stopping at both sites.
Nearby
- La Venta Park, Villahermosa — 55 km southeast, outdoor museum with four Olmec colossal stone heads and other monuments relocated from the La Venta site
- Palenque — 150 km east, the great Classic Maya city with the finest surviving palace complex and jungle setting in Mexico
- Laguna de las Ilusiones, Villahermosa — urban nature reserve in the state capital; manatees occasionally visible
Sources
- Zender, M. (2004). “A Study of Classic Maya Priesthood.” PhD dissertation, University of Calgary.
- González Cruz, A. (INAH). Official excavation reports, Zona Arqueológica Comalcalco.
- Stuart, D. (2011). The Order of Days: The Maya World and the Truth About 2012. Harmony Books.
- Schele, L. & Freidel, D. (1990). A Forest of Kings. William Morrow & Co.
- Wikipedia: Comalcalco
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