Archaeologists working along Mexico’s Maya Train route have uncovered a pre-Hispanic beekeeping site in Quintana Roo, offering new insights into how ancient Maya communities organised their homes, produced honey and managed natural resources.
The remains of an ancient Maya meliponary, a structure used to keep stingless bees, were discovered during archaeological rescue work on Section 5 of the Maya Train in 2022. Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) announced further details of the discovery on 23 September 2026, highlighting its significance for understanding Maya domestic life and agricultural practices.
Located near Aktun Chen Natural Park in Tulum, the site provides evidence of a traditional Maya homestead, where residential spaces, food production and resource management formed part of an integrated household economy.
The structure, registered as monument T5_23001, was excavated by archaeologist Marisela Salazar Carrillo. Measuring 19.5 metres long, 3.9 metres wide and 1.2 metres high, it is believed to have housed rows of hollow wooden logs, known as jobones, used to raise stingless bees and produce honey.
The logs would have been sheltered beneath a roof made from perishable materials, protecting the colonies from the elements.
Mexico’s Secretary of Culture, Claudia Curiel de Icaza, said the discovery would help researchers understand how Maya families organised their homes and made use of their surroundings. She also emphasised the importance of preserving archaeological evidence and recognising traditional knowledge that continues to be practised by Maya communities.
Forty stone discs offer clues to ancient honey production
Among the most significant finds were 40 circular discs made from limestone and coral, measuring between 10 and 20 centimetres in diameter. Researchers believe these may have served as lids for the hollow-log beehives.
The discs were discovered near the walls of the meliponary, alongside pottery fragments thought to have come from vessels used to store honey.
Archaeologists also recovered stone artefacts that may have been used as fishing-net weights, as well as handstones associated with grinding food.
According to INAH archaeologist Luis Ernesto Narváez Mac, the stone discs are particularly important because they could provide evidence of beekeeping techniques that have changed relatively little over thousands of years.
Although stone lids were historically used to seal Maya beehives, they have largely been replaced over the past century by wooden covers coated with mud. Some communities, however, continue to use stones.
Researchers now plan to examine the discs for traces of beeswax. Their porous surfaces may have retained sediments and chemical residues that could establish whether they were used in ancient beehives.
Beekeeping structure may date back more than 500 years
The meliponary was constructed from limestone masonry, with larger stones positioned horizontally and smaller stones placed vertically. Stone wedges were used to reinforce the walls, which consist of between two and six courses of masonry resting directly on the bedrock.
Its elongated, east–west layout suggests that the structure was designed to accommodate several rows of beehives.
Narváez Mac believes the remains most likely date to the Late Postclassic period, between AD 1200 and 1521, although a later date during the Spanish contact period, between AD 1521 and 1697, remains possible.
Similar structures discovered along the eastern coast of the Yucatán Peninsula have generally been attributed to these periods.
Further analysis of pottery recovered during the excavations will be required to establish a more precise chronology.
Discovery reveals how Maya households organised daily life
The meliponary was not an isolated structure. Archaeologists identified a wider complex of stone walls, levelled ground and foundations that may have supported residential buildings or storage facilities.
A possible shrine was also found less than 100 metres away, while a nearby cenote and cavern formed part of the surrounding landscape.
Together, these features suggest that the beekeeping facility belonged to a larger Maya homestead combining domestic, agricultural and productive activities.
Historical accounts, including those of 16th-century chronicler Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés, support the interpretation of Maya beekeeping facilities as components of larger household complexes.
Narváez Mac explained that Maya families traditionally engaged in several activities within the same homestead, rather than relying on a single form of production.
Different areas could be used for raising bees, cultivating maize and beans, storing agricultural products and providing living accommodation.
The discovery therefore offers researchers an opportunity to investigate the relationship between household organisation, food production and the management of natural resources in pre-Hispanic Maya society.
Further scientific analysis could confirm ancient beekeeping practices
Soil samples collected during the excavations have been sent to the Soil and Chemical Analysis Laboratory in Yucatán. Researchers hope the results will help reconstruct the environmental conditions that supported the breeding of Melipona beecheii, a stingless bee species traditionally kept by Maya communities.
Pottery and stone artefacts are also undergoing analysis in laboratories in Quintana Roo and Campeche.
In addition, INAH plans to conduct an ethnoarchaeological study of contemporary Maya meliponaries, comparing traditional beekeeping practices with the archaeological evidence.
Physical and chemical testing of the recovered discs will be particularly important. If researchers identify beeswax residues, the findings could provide stronger evidence that the objects were used to seal pre-Hispanic beehives.
The continuing investigation is expected to shed further light on ancient Maya honey production and the organisation of households that combined beekeeping, agriculture and other activities within a single domestic complex.
Sources : INAH
