Culuba, Archaeological site in Tizimín Municipality, Yucatán, Mexico.
Kulubá is a Maya archaeological site 37 km southeast of Tizimín, Yucatán, made up of three main groups of residential structures. Group C, on a two-metre base measuring 70 by 80 metres, holds the Masquerade Palace, a vaulted gallery divided into six rooms. Its main frieze is lost, but Toltec-style serpents stood at the corners and Chaac masks filled the wall panels.
The site was active between the 7th and 11th centuries and shows features of both Uxmal and Chichen Itza. The architecture reflects exchange between different groups that inhabited the region during this period.
The structures display Puuc-style elements with masks of the rain god Chaac and elaborate stone patterns still visible on the walls. These decorations suggest how important water and agricultural harvests were to the people who lived here.
Kulubá lies 37 km southeast of Tizimín along the road to the Yucatán colony, in Tizimín Municipality. The vegetation is medium deciduous forest with chicozapote, ceiba and ramón trees, though cattle ranching has turned much of the surrounding land into pasture and scrub. Excavations by INAH have continued since 2019, so parts of Group C may be closed off.
The name Kulubá combines K'ulu', a species of wild dog, and ha', water, meaning "water of kulu", per linguist William Brito Sansores in his 1981 work on Maya writing. Wyllys Andrews, who explored the site in the winter of 1939–1940, spelled it "Culuba" in his first article, without the C-to-K change or the accent.
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