Tren Maya Archaeological Finds Won’t Be Displayed in Chetumal, INAH Says

Chetumal, Quintana Roo — The pre-Hispanic artifacts recovered during archaeological salvage work for the Tren Maya in Quintana Roo will not go on display at the Museo de la Cultura Maya in Chetumal, even though the state capital is where they were restored and conserved, the head of INAH’s Quintana Roo office said.

Margarito Molina Rendón, director of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) in the state, said the pieces will instead be moved to exhibition centers run by the institute: the Museo Maya de Cancún and the Museo Regional de la Costa Oriental, located in the Parque del Jaguar in Tulum.

“They will be relocated. They are already restored, because there is a whole restoration process — they are generally extracted in poor condition and undergo recovery work — but they will be moved to be presented at the Museo Maya de Cancún and the Museo de la Costa Oriental,” Molina said. “We are talking about more than 40 pieces that we managed to recover, but for now there are no plans for any of them to stay at the Museo de la Cultura Maya in Chetumal, because it is not ours. They will be exhibited only in these INAH museums.”

Vessels, Metates and Ceremonial Structures Among the Finds

The recovered material includes complete and fragmented vessels, metates, projectile points, green stone objects and historic containers, along with residential foundations, pyramidal bases, palaces and ceremonial structures. Specialists analyzed, classified and restored the items, and many were also sent to the states of Yucatán, Campeche and Chiapas. Quintana Roo’s share came to about 50 pieces, which will be shown at the INAH museums.

Molina also acknowledged a significant drop in visitors to the state’s archaeological sites and museums, but said he expects attendance to recover in the remaining months of the year.

“There has indeed been a decrease, but it is part of the tourism activity in the state. We hope that as it recovers, more people will visit the archaeological sites,” he said.

According to INAH data, visits were down 29.6% as of June compared with the same month in 2025, with Tulum recording the steepest losses. Officials nonetheless say they are confident cultural tourism can rebound in the coming months and in 2027.