A group of archaeologists discovered in northern Guatemala three villages belonging to the Mayan civilization with more than 2,800 years old. The three settlements are They find 23 kilometers from Uaxactún, what is currently in the department of Petén, located about 500 kilometers north of Guatemala City.
“It would not be a life to explore the treasures left by this city; I would need many lives for it, ”says Milan Kováč, who has been in Guatemala for 20 years and, from them, 17 by the Uaxactún Regional Archaeological Project (Paru), developed in conjunction with the Comenius University of Bratislava, Slovakia.
The project has had the participation of Guatemalan and international professionals. In this article we explore 10 outstanding points of recent discoveries.
1. Uaxactún, still unexplored
Uaxactún has been the scene of archaeological work throughout the decades. It is one of the most representative settlements of the Mayan lowlands. From the first investigations, the data collected served as an interpretive basis of the Mayan society and aroused the interest of international researchers in other archaeological sites.
He was first visited in 1916 by Sylvanus Morley, who then directed the second Central America expedition of the Carnegie institution of Washington, and was the one who assigned the name with which he is currently known. Subsequently, the Carnegie institution began an archaeological exploration program that was developed from 1921 to 1937.
The site remained abandoned for several decades, until in 1974 David Pulleston made a reconnaissance of settlements between Tikal and Uaxactún. In the 1980s, specifically from 1983 to 1986, the second project of great magnitude began, under the direction of Juan Antonio Valdés. Another project was developed between 1988 and 1989. After these interventions, no new archaeological investigations were carried out until 2009, when the Paru project arrived.
The project director, Dora García, explains that it was thought that everything was discovered on this site. There was a hill that was believed natural, but under it was a building, now known as the shark. Other unexplored areas were also found, from which various artifacts and hundreds of findings have been recovered.
2. The 17 -year -old work
The explored area covers 1,200 square kilometers northwest of Petén. In it, 176 settlements have been discovered, of which 20 have been excavated.
Among the main excavated centers are: Uaxactún, Dos Torres, Petnal, Ch´anal, Ramonal, Jimbal, Ramonalito, Tz’ibatnah, the grandparents and Cambrayal. Other explorations focus on: Sakapuk, the table, the mud, Atalaya, Chival, La Lomita, Sunsal, Santa Marta, El Guamil and Santa Luisa.
3. The discovery of grandparents
The first excavations allowed the first map of the site and establish a preliminary chronology. The results surprised with a very early occupation, from the Middle Preclassic (800–500 BC), very well preserved, which continued to the late preclassic, which makes it a remarkable settlement for the study of the origins of the Mayan society in Petén.
The site known as grandparents is one of the oldest ceremonial centers and is 23 kilometers from Uaxactún, in Petén. He took his name after the finding of a couple of sculptures that could be linked to old ancestral ritual practices.
A detailed study shows that these figures were originally on the E-54 temple, surrounded by several offerings. The statues looked west, indicating a connection with the ancestors and the underworld.
4. The ancestral couple
Garcia explains that the sculptures were found between July and August 2023. It was a surprise to discover a small temple (e-liv) and the buried sculptures. The two art figures in carved stone are part of Guatemala’s pre -Hispanic heritage.
—We must ask who can represent in Mayan mythology, and we found that they could be the training grandparents, Ixpiyacoc and Ixmucané, cited in the sacred book of the Popol Vuh Mention Kováč. It would be similar to the great -grandparents of humanity.
It is believed that this couple represents the masculine and feminine of humanity, divine and ancestors. His finding next to the temple shows an ancestral cult towards them.
(Free Press Photo: Paru)
5. Ceremonial cults
On the site a unique grave was found, preserved since the Mamom time (800–500 BC), placed with an offering directly in front of the ancestral couple. From the body the skull of a male adult was preserved. The E-LIV temple was an important center for approximately 700 years, as demonstrated by offerings and burial.
The latest activity records on the site date from the end of the preclassic period, around 150 d. C. The city was abandoned for about 500 years. At the end of the late classic period, a new population built palaces on old platforms. In the E-VIII structure a funeral of the late classic with two vessels was identified, one of them with the reason for a heron, a symbol associated with life after death.
The continuity of the cult was evidenced in the E-LIV structure, with a ceramic deposit placed at the foot of the sculptures in a ritual.
6. Felines in the ritual
At the foot of the grandparents’ sculptures, bones of felines were also found, possibly jaguars or tigrillos, although the species has not yet been identified. The finding caused an impact on the community, which made ceremonies to ask the ancestors for permission to continue the exploration.
7. The preclassic in the Mayan culture
The discovery is part of the study of the preclassic period, at which time the Mayan culture originated. Although the viewpoint is considered the greatest settlement, there are even older and more influential sites for its development.
“There was born writing, painting, art, religion and Mayan architecture,” says Kováč. Everything was formed in this period. We believed that Uaxactún was great and still is, but these findings reveal that there were even older centers. Uaxactún copied elements of the grandparents and before we did not know that this place existed.
Garcia adds that these discoveries date between 500 and 800 years a. C., that is, more than 2,000 years before our era.
(Free Press Photo: Paru)
8. Other relevant findings
In the process, two associated sites of great interest were also discovered: Petnal, with a 33 -meter pyramid decorated with preclastic murals, and Cambrayal, which contains a system of palatial channels and evidence of advanced hydraulic infrastructure. Together with the grandparents, they make up an unknown urban triangle.
Mónica Urquizí, Technical Director of the Institute of Anthropology and History (IDAEH), highlighted the value of these findings for the understanding of the cultural development of the Maya in Guatemala.
9. Recognize community support
Community support is key to the development of research. Education and other projects are promoted with the neighbors, who, when finding pieces, report them to the project to recognize them as part of their heritage. “The new generations are more aware of it and there are less looters,” says Kaváč. He adds that the entire project depends on the trust between authorities, neighbors and archaeologists.
A fundamental aspect, he acknowledges, are the cooks: “If we do not have good cooks, the workers leave. In the jungle we depend on them, the water and gasoline to transport us.”
10. Contact with cultural heritage
Garcia invites the Guatemalans to be interested in the country’s archaeological assets. Tikal and Uaxactún are recognized as tourist sites with adequate infrastructure.
For now, grandparents and recently found sites are not open to the public. “You can only observe mounds and vegetation; the area is still studying,” says Garcia.
It also encourages the Symposium of Archeology, where investigations from all regions are presented every year. “The objective is that the Guatemalan value its heritage, identify with its roots and the cultural legacy it possesses,” he concludes. In Paru, the publication of scientific articles and books that bring this knowledge to the population is planned.
With EFE information.