May 9, 2023

This is only the fourth sculpture of K’awil ever found. The other three are at Tikal. The god is seen in paintings, reliefs, codices.

So far INAH has uncovered

• 48,971 ancient buildings or foundations
• 896,449 ceramic fragments
• 1,817 movable objects
• 491 human remains
• 1,307 natural features, such as caves and cenotes.

A new museum will be constructed in Mérida that will be dedicated to discoveries unearthed during the construction of the Maya Train.

Mexiconewsdaily has the report here;

https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/rare-statue-mayan-god-kawiil-found-maya-train/?fbclid=IwAR2lsdjrUvLQnsbeCn8rgjfITAP9G0a8oV5FoWfVDxTDsvaY0xkRvhMGt8Q

Mike Ruggeri’s Ancient Maya News on Tumblr

http://mikeruggerisacientmayanew.tumblr.com

May 9, 2023

In new research published in the journal Ancient Mesoamerica, Anthropologists John Linden and Victoria Bricker have found a pattern which matches the synoptic tables of all visible planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. It takes 819 days or 45 years for the calendar to align with these planets.

the 819-day count envisioned it as a larger calendar system that could be used for predictions of all the visible planet’s synodic periods.”

This discovery highlights the advanced understanding the Maya had of the night sky to create a sophisticated calendar system that not only tracked time but also allowed them to predict the positions of the visible planets in the sky.

Spacechatter has the report here;

https://www.spacechatter.com/2023/04/28/maya-calendar-mystery-solved-scientists-say-theyve-cracked-its-ancient-code/

Mike Ruggeri’s Ancient Maya News on Tumblr

http://mikeruggerisacientmayanew.tumblr.com

May 9, 2023

INAH working at the Moral-Reforma Archaeological site in Balancán, Tabasco has uncovered 13 human burials at the stairway of a temple-pyramid, with some skulls showing decapitation marks. Eight appear to be young men seemingly decapitated as part of a consecration ceremony. The burials date to 2,000 years ago. They appear to be elite individuals.

The discovery was made to the adjacent Maya train route construction. INAH was excavating and consolidating work on Structure 18 which dates to 600-900 CE. The remains were laid out in two groups, with the older group dating to 2,000 years ago. The buried individuals had cranial deformation performed on them at an early age called tabular deformation to show their elite status. And two of them had jade inlaid teeth.

Eight of there 13 buried were decapitated and dismembered with their parts placed separately.

The older group of individuals were arranged in a seated position and were grouped with other individuals brought from earlier graves. These dated to 300-250 CE. There were 567 pieces of shell, jade beads, shell rings, projectile points, vessels, perforated shells, and bone needles laid as offerings with the individuals.

The Moral-Reforma site linked the Guatemala Peten with the Gulf of Mexico in terms of trade. It was founded in 600-900 CE and inhabited till 900-1200 CE and has has several plazas, buildings, and structures.

The sacrificed individuals are linked to the Maya god of death.

Heritage Daily has the report here:

https://www.heritagedaily.com/2023/04/decapitated-and-dismembered-bodies-found-at-maya-pyramid/147050

Mike Ruggeri’s Ancient Maya News on Tumblr

http://mikeruggerisacientmayanew.tumblr.com

May 9, 2023

Mineralogists and geologists from the University of Granada studied Maya ancient plasters in Honduras which have held up better than the plaster used in the Aztec empire. They have discovered the secret ingredient in that plaster. They used X-ray machines and electron microscopes and found organic material in the mix. They consulted masons and Maya people living near the site of Copan  which led them to two trees, the chum and jilts and the sap from those trees.

They added the sap to plaster ingredients limestone and water which reacted to carbon dioxide in the air to make lime mortar. They mixed in the sap and found that this created a plaster impervious to the Honduran humidity.

Their research is published in Science Advances

Carlos Rodriguez-Navarro et al, Unveiling the secret of ancient Maya masons: Biomimetic lime plasters with plant extracts, Science Advances (2023). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adf6138

Physorg has the report here:

https://phys.org/news/2023-04-secret-ingredient-durable-mayan-plaster.html

Mike Ruggeri’s Ancient Maya News on Tumblr

http://mikeruggerisacientmayanew.tumblr.com

January 10, 2023

Research into the K’iche led region of Guatemala shows that trade in obsidian was manage by local people through independent trade networks. And it was based on availability and craftsmanship. So it appears this is a system based on a free market. Research was done on a geochemical and technological analysis on obsidian artifacts excavated from 50 sites around the K’iche’ capital. Where did raw material come from and what were the manufacturing techniques used.

In the capital area, centralized control and managed trade was in operation. Outside the core area in conquered areas, they obtained their own obsidian and developed obsidian markets.

The research is published in Latin American Antiquity

Phys.org has the report here;

https://phys.org/news/2023-01-mayas-market-based-economics.htm

January 10, 2023

A previously unidentified Maya area now 964 settlements have been found by LIDAR flying over Guatemala’s Mirador-Calakmul Karst Basin in northern Guatemala. It is dated to 1000 BCE-150 CE covering 650 square miles with 110 miles of roads. They also built a vast causeway network. There are 775 sites in the central area and 189 sites in the surrounding area. 417 cities, towns, and villages from part of a unified civilization. Patterns, ceramics, sculptures, architecture all show this unity. Thousands of workers had to be mobilized in an area previously thought to be sparsely populated.

“The labor would include lime producers, mortar and quarry specialists, lithic technicians, architects, logistics and agricultural procurement specialists, and legal enforcement and religious officials, all operating under a political and ideological homogeneity,”

Large pyramids and platforms have been identified as well as 30 ball courts. 195 artificial reservoirs and a network of canals for transporting water was were constructed.  The study is published in the journal Ancient Mesoamerica.

The report is published here;

https://www.iflscience.com/enormous-maya-civilization-discovered-complete-with-roads-reservoirs-and-ballcourts-66804

December 12, 2022

Oxkintok is in the Puuc region of the Yucatán and emerged as a major centre during the Early Classic and Terminal Classic periods. They constructed large pyramids and decorated their city with an abundance of richly detailed iconography and hieroglyphics.

The city was abandoned sometime around AD 1500. There is no evidence that warfare or famine caused the abandonment.

INAH announced that during excavation work for the Maya Train, a 1,525-kilometre intercity railway in Mexico that will traverse the Yucatán Peninsula, researchers found a headless life-size Maya statue. Nicknamed “Yum keeb” — the god of the phallus or fertility, the statue is made from limestone and measures 1.65 metres tall. The statue was possibly used as an offering to the gods and was found lying on his back near a hieroglyph-laden staircase that was being cleaned and restored. Experts believe that the statue represents a human figure and depicts a prisoner of war captured in conflict.

During a press conference by INAH, archaeologists also announced that a survey which extends 254 kilometres, also detected more than 1,730 pre-Hispanic constructions, ranging from simple domestic architecture to monumental constructions for civil and ceremonial activities.

Heritage Daily has the report here;

https://www.heritagedaily.com/2022/12/excavations-uncover-headless-life-size-maya-statue/145499

Blaze

December 12, 2022

Archaeologists and Epigraphers at the Maya site of Tamarindito in Guatemala left hieroglyphic tributes to themselves and a dynasty they named the “Foliated Scroll” dynasty. New findings indicate they were planning to create this dynasty by attracting followers to their site. The site was founded in 400 CE and only had 400 inhabitants. It took 150 years for the hamlet to become a power at 550-800 CE. During this time, they established a second site further north.

The dynastic leaders had to convince the non-elites to recognize their power. Archaeologists at the site have spent seven field seasons excavating and documenting all the royal inscriptions. The elite built a pyramid and large plaza on a 70 foot high hill. It would have taken 23-31 workers to build this 25 years. At its peak, no more than several thousand lived there.

The research is published in the journal Latin American Antiquity

Science News has the report here;

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/maya-rulers-attract-subjects-guatemala-tamarindito

December 12, 2022

Oxkintok is in the Puuc region of the Yucatán and emerged as a major centre during the Early Classic and Terminal Classic periods. They constructed large pyramids and decorated their city with an abundance of richly detailed iconography and hieroglyphics.

The city was abandoned sometime around AD 1500. There is no evidence that warfare or famine caused the abandonment.

INAH announced that during excavation work for the Maya Train, a 1,525-kilometre intercity railway in Mexico that will traverse the Yucatán Peninsula, researchers found a headless life-size Maya statue. Nicknamed “Yum keeb” — the god of the phallus or fertility, the statue is made from limestone and measures 1.65 metres tall. The statue was possibly used as an offering to the gods and was found lying on his back near a hieroglyph-laden staircase that was being cleaned and restored. Experts believe that the statue represents a human figure and depicts a prisoner of war captured in conflict.

During a press conference by INAH, archaeologists also announced that a survey which extends 254 kilometres, also detected more than 1,730 pre-Hispanic constructions, ranging from simple domestic architecture to monumental constructions for civil and ceremonial activities.

Heritage Daily has the report here;

https://www.heritagedaily.com/2022/11/faces-from-the-past-stucco-maya-masks-unearthed-at-tonina/145371 

November 16, 2022

Researchers at the Maya site of Nixtun-Ch’ich’ in Guatemala, dated at 800-500 BCE have proposed the city was laid out in the form of the back of a crocodile. Crocodiles represent the earth as the crocodile Itzam Cab Ain. This monster was sacrificed and dismembered at creation. It became the ordered universe.” It also represents the cosmic destroyer slain by the gods to create the surface of the earth. It is linked to fertility and re-birth. The crocodile is the base of the world tree linking the underworld, earth and the sky. Like turtles in the Maya cosmology, they are a link between the underworld and earth.

In the Maya world, Crocodiles appear on altars and public architecture and in ceramics and carved materials. Crocodile hides were worn by shamans and crocodile remains are found  in ceremonial remains. The topography of  Nixtun-Ch’ich’ has been uncovered by the researchers, and GPS has shown the layout of the site. It does look like a crocodile with its bilateral symmetry and city blocks that look like the scaly back of the animal, which appears to be shifting into the lake, the researchers say.

A defensive ditch may represent the slit throat of the crocodile done by the gods. In the mythology, there is a hole in the back of the crocodile. A cenote at the site may represent that. The researchers admit that this may be projection by the researchers wanting to see a crocodile. Others are also skeptical. The site was planned as a sacred landscape aligned with the movements of the sun

The research is published in Frontiers in Political Science

Newsweek has the report here:

https://www.newsweek.com/mystery-ancient-maya-city-looks-like-crocodile-1759025

November 16, 2022

Canadian researchers, in conjunction with INAH, have used LIDAR at the Maya site of Calakmul in Campeche, the seat of the Snake dynasty  from 635-850 CE,  which dominated the Maya lowlands with a huge vassal network, have uncovered a vast network of urban construction, huge apartment compounds, some with 60 individual structures, and a very dense urban scrawl.

These were clustered around temples, shrines, and marketplaces. Calakmul was one of the largest cities in the Americas at 700 CE. Calakmul was covered with water canals, terraces, walls, and dams, for food and water.

Reese-Taylor and her colleagues on the Bajo Laberinto Archaeological Project are on the INAH TV YouTube channel.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=m58Wjq9jRWY

Physorg has the report here:

https://phys.org/news/2022-10-collaboration-reveals-urbanization-landscape-modifications.html

November 17, 2022

Belize’s Midnight Terror Cave, which was named by locals, and was used for burials by the Maya from 250-925 CE had 118 burials of people sacrificed by head trauma is being researched Cal State archaeologists. They looked at the mouths of the victims and found blue fiber in the teeth of a few of them. It appears to be cotton. The blue pigment which would have been used to dye the cotton was used for ceremonial purposes in the Maya world. It was sometimes used to paint the bodies of sacrificial victims. Perhaps the fiber was in gags used on the victims. There is some skepticism about this claim.

The rate at which plaque forms in teeth is based on the food that was eaten and physiology. So determining where these blue fibers were trapped is hard to determine and very few teeth in the victims had any dental calculus that could be determined the researchers pointed out.

The research is published in the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology

Live Science has the report here:

https://www.livescience.com/midnight-terror-cave-maya-sacrifice-victims

October 19, 2022

Researchers have found high levels of mercury contamination in Maya cities. They looked at many Maya sites including at Chunchumil in today’s Mexico, Marco Gonzales, Chan b’I and Actuncan in Belize, La Corona, Tikal, Petén Itzá, Piedras Negras and Cancuén in Guatemala, Palmarejo in Honduras, and Cerén in El Salvador.

Mercury contamination was found deep in the soils of these sites. Sealed vessels filled with liquid mercury have been found at Quiriqua in Guatemala, El Paraíso in Honduras, and the former multi-ethnic megacity Teotihucan in Central Mexico.

Objects were painted with mercury contaminated paints from cinnabar. The mercury leached from patios, floors, walls, ceramics into the soil and water. Cinnabar was mined outside of the main Maya region and imported into the Maya sites by traders.

Mercury poisoning causes damage to the central nervous system, kidneys, and liver, and cause tremors, impaired vision and hearing, paralysis, and mental health problems and obesity. Maya rulers were often shown as obese in their murals.

The research is published in Frontiers in Environmental Science
https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2022.986119

https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2022.986119Heritage Daily has the report here:

Heritage Daily has the report here:
https://www.heritagedaily.com/2022/09/maya-cities-were-contaminated-with-mercury/144764

October 19, 2022

Students from The University of Illinois along with the Belize Institute of Archaeology are excavating a site that is a neighborhood dating to 250-650 CE. They are looking at the styles, forms and decorations on pottery sherds and the walls, floors and storage and cooking vessels, agricultural tools made of chert.

One building stands out constructed of uniform stones and white limestone plaster. There are only a few artifacts. This was perhaps a community building.

They have partially excavated a platform mound with four structures at the summit. That looked over a plaza. The structures were homes of the elite.

They have found a cache of 15 stemmed points made of chert made of non-local chert. They were unused and placed as a dedicatory cache.

The report is published by the University of Illinois New Bureau with many photos:

https://news.illinois.edu/view/6367/96235859

OCTOBER 19, 2022

Heritage Daily has published a report on the kinds of hallucinogens the Maya used in ritual ceremonies to provide altered states of consciousness.

“They made a drink called balché from the bark of the leguminous tree soaked in honey, water, and then fermented consumed in large quantities to induce vomit, which would be collected in bags and hung around the users neck.”

“Chih made by fermenting the sap of the maguey plant. Ceramic works from the Maya Classic Period produced vessels marked with the glyph ‘chi’. References to the use of the beverage also appear in the Dresden, Borgia, Florentine, and Borbonicus codices.”

“Wild tobacco mixed with the leaves of Datura to enhance the hallucinogenic effect.” The tobacco would be selected out for very high nicotine content.

“Liquids and gas would often be used for enemas, using syringes made of gourd and clay into the rectum to intensify the effect of the drug. Maya ceramics images in which psychedelic enemas were utilised in rituals; some figures are vomiting while others receive enemas and depict individuals as they receive enemas.”

“Hallucinogenic mushrooms that contain psilocybin and psilocin”

“Nymphaea ampla causes opiate-like effects.

The Ololiuqui plant contains seeds with different alkaloids of the LSD ground into powder and then blended into a cacao beverage.”

“Bufo marinus frogs have skins which emit psychedelic properties added to beverages.”

Heritage Daily has the report here:

https://www.heritagedaily.com/2022/09/the-ritual-drug-habits-of-the-maya/144651

September 13, 2022

Three years ago, a team of researchers located the site of Sak Tz’i (White Dog in English). It was colonized by 750 BCE. The team used LIDAR in 2019 to scout out the possible site and found it was a large unknown Maya site. There was a two year Covid deal before the site could be excavated. They have found the site was heavily fortified with stone barricades and wooden palisades. The site was mentioned in doorways lintels at Bonampak in which captives from the site were shown defeated and humiliated.

In 2019, while excavating the ball court, they unearthed a stone altar. Beneath the altar he found the spear point as well as obsidian blades, spiny oyster shells and fragments of greenstone. In Maya cosmology flint connoted warfare and the sun or sky; obsidian, darkness and sacrifice. Oyster shells and greenstone were equated with life, vitality and solar rebirth in the sea.

A 2-by-4-foot wall panel dated to 775 A.D. revealed tales of battles, rituals, a legendary flood and a fantastical water serpent described in poetic couplets as “shiny sky, shiny earth.”

“The glyphs highlight the lives of dynastic rulers such as K’ab Kante’, including when each one died, how they were memorialized and under what circumstances their successors came to the throne. In one glyph, the Sak Tz’i’ ruler appears as the dancing Yopaat, a divinity associated with violent tropical storms. The ax in his right hand is a lightning bolt, the snake-footed deity K’awiil; in his left he carries a “manopla,” a stone club used in ritual combat. The missing panel is presumed to have featured a prisoner of war, kneeling in supplication to Yopaat.”

The NY Times has the report here:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/13/science/archaeology-mayan-mexico.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

September 13, 2022

INAH has discovered a stone disc at the Maya site of Tonina in Chiapas. It depicts an ancient ruler embodied by the Mayan god of corn in the underworld.

The figure appears to be seated on a throne and is wearing a jade beaded skirt along with a serpent mask headdress. It is 17 inches in diameter and 3.5 inches thick. It depicts an event in 505 CE, 260 years after the death of an aristocrat in the Maya kingdom of Po’p.

The disk places the governor in the underworld as a reincarnation of the god of maize as he is reportedly represented as dead in a kingdom belonging to a jaguar lord of the underworld.

This is just before the moment of his rebirth in the form of a corn plant accompanied by the sun. The new discovery sheds a light on the cosmic universe and the rituals shared between Po’p, located in Tonina, and the kingdom of Lakamha’ (“Big Waters”), situated in a neighboring zone called Palenque.

The two sites fought a bloody war in 687 AD that lasted for 24 years to gain control of the basin of the Usumacinta river to control the agriculture, economy and way of life in the Maya Lowlands. 

Newsweek has the report here:
https://www.newsweek.com/mayan-ruler-reincarnated-god-corn-new-discovery-1736900

September 13, 2022

INAH Discovers a Large Maya Site Along the Maya Train Route in Quintana Too. It has more than 300 rooms. It is called Paamul II. There are subterranean rivers and cenotes. Divers are now working there to recover valuable artifacts. 

INAH has found 25,000 immovable structures and ancient roads along the train route so far. 43 ceramic pots and 432 human bones have been uncovered. 

The artifacts will be placed in museums including in a new one to be built in Merida, Yucatan. 

Mexiconewsdaily has the report here: 
https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/inah-archaeological-discovery-maya-train/

September 13, 2022

Extended turmoil in the Maya city of Mayapan in the Yucatan was marked by population declines, political rivalries and civil conflict. That strife resulted in the complete institutional collapse and abandonment of the city  Between 1441 and 1461 CE. This occurred during a protracted drought. 

The drought may have stoked the civil conflict that begat violence, which in turn led to the institutional instabilities that precipitated Mayapan’s collapse.

“Researchers examined archaeological and historical data from Mayapan, including isotope records, radiocarbon data and DNA sequences from human remains, to document in particular an interval of unrest between 1400 and 1450 CE. They then used regional sources of climatic data and combined it with a newer, local record of drought from cave deposits beneath the city.”
The societal wekness was rooted in Maya reliance on rain-fed maize agriculture, lack of centralized long-term grain storage, minimal investments in irrigation and a sociopolitical system led by elite families with competing political interests.

Author: Shelly Leachman | Source: University of California – Santa Barbara [July 19, 2022

The report is here at archaeologynewsnetwork:
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2022/07/new-research-demonstrates-connections.html

August 8, 2022

Archaeologists in Guatemala are using LIDAR to reveal a whole new Maya world that had been hidden from view by dense jungle foliage. LIDAR has allowed archaeologists to see through the jungle to reveal vast new areas of Maya occupation, uncovering hidden pyramids, monumental structures, whole expanses of Maya settlement. A site called El Zoitz was thought to have been a small town. LIDAR has now shown El Zotz is 40 times larger than what was thought with roads radiating from its center to outlying villages;

Near El Zotz, they have uncovered cacao fields showing agricultural specialization for the purpose of trade. LIDAR has uncovered a wall built at El Zotz to fight off attackers and a large cache of stones for ammunition.They have found a site they call La Cuernavilla which was a fortress. La Cuernavilla includes a temple, palace, housing platforms, a moat and a massive wall some 25 feet high. One side is protected by a sheer cliff, and the other is strategically fortified with defensive terraces. A watchtower sits nearby, part of a newly discovered defensive network that spreads throughout the entire Maya lowlands.

It’s the first time archaeologists have found Maya structures built expressly for warfare, and it implies an unexpected level of military engineering. And it appears that the fortress was an outlying defensive barrier for the site of Tikal. And these new LIDAR generated findings show the Maya society to be much more hierarchical and organized than ever before.

Discoverymagazine.com has a very detailed report here with many photos. 

https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/the-lost-world-of-the-maya-is-finally-emerging-from-the-jungle

August 3, 2022

INAH has uncovered a pre-Hispanic crypt at the site of Tonina. There were 400 vessels in niches containing human ashes, coral, rubber, roots. A series of small vaults and rooms connected by stairways to an antechamber led to the crypt. INAH researchers found that the sulfur in the ashes were used to vulcanize the rubber to make rubber balls for the ballgame.

Three rulers dating to 500-687 CE; Wak Chan Káhk´ (died on 8 Chikchan, September 1, 775 AD); Aj Kololte’, subordinate dignitary of the Po’p dynasty (died 12 akbal 11 sotz, April 1, 776 AD) and Lady Káwiil Kaan (died 722 AD) were taken to the cave of death after 260 days, completed a cycle of the ritual calendar –and on the same date of their deaths– for their transmutation explained INAH.
Toniná, was originally called Po’p, Po or Popo in Classic Maya texts. The city is located in the Chiapas highlands of southern Mexico, east of the town of Ocosingo.

The site contains groups of temple-pyramids set on terraces rising some 71 metres above a central plaza, two ballcourts, and over 100 carved monuments that mainly date from the 6th century through to the 9th centuries AD during the Classic period.

Heritage Daily has the report here;

https://www.heritagedaily.com/2022/08/maya-crypt-contains-cremation-burials-used-for-making-rubber-balls-in-ritual-ball-games/144250?fbclid=IwAR36VWwF9b-KNi_Mok9nS5132pfAiy-2pHAXGtY4RfYg60OHpGCOyKziiSQ

July 30, 2022

INAH has uncovered a Maya style chocolate vessel in a cave in Playa del Carmen called Cueva de la Cruz. The vessel is 16 cm high and 17 cm wide. It probably belongs to the period 300 BCE-250 CE. It is reddish on the outside and black on the inside. It has a style similar to a pumpkin. “It will allow researchers to find information on style, technique, origin. Pottery knowledge daily uses, ritual practices, myths and cultural evolution.”

Researchers will return to the cave in the dry season to look for other artifacts, and to detemine more about the chocolate trade in the area.

INAH has the report here in Spanish, and when you click on the green camera icon, you will see great photo slides of the discovery.

https://www.inah.gob.mx/boletines/11362-el-inah-recupera-una-vasija-maya-completa-de-una-cueva-de-playa-del-carmen-quintana-roo

July 15, 2022

Researchers have found that half of the Maya genome is from populations arriving 5,600-4,700 years ago from Chibchan speaking peoples living between Costa Rica and northern Columbia.
The researchers analyzed DNA from two rick shelters in southern Belize. They re-introduced maize into Mexico in this area, and evidence shows that maize consumption jumped 4.700 years ago. The new migrants introduced new agricultural knowledge that led to intensive agriculture by the Maya.

According to a new study, more than half of the modern Maya genome is derived from ancient populations who migrated to the Yucatán Peninsula from southern Central America and South America at least 5,600 years ago. A team led by archaeologist Keith Prufer of the University of New Mexico, geneticist David Reich of Harvard University, and archaeologist Douglas Kennett of the University of California, Santa Barbara, analyzed DNA from human remains recovered from two rock shelters in southern Belize. They discovered that a group of the individuals whose remains were radiocarbon dated to between 5,600 and 4,000 years ago are ancestors of present-day Chibchan-speaking populations that live between Costa Rica and northern Colombia. “These people moved into the area in fairly small numbers over a period of perhaps five hundred to one thousand years and mixed with local populations,” Kennett says.

Archaeology.org has the report here;
https://www.archaeology.org/issues/474-2207/digs/10610-digs-belize-chichan-migration

July 15, 2022

An international team of researchers researching the ancient coastal Maya populations at Vista Alegre and Conil in the Yucatan. On the small island of Vista Alegre, they have uncovered pole and thatch buildings with a pyramid like structure 43 feet tall. The Conil site was encountered by the Spanish who said it had 5,000 houses. They are using cores from the sediments on the coast to determine how rising oceans interfered with drinking water at the sites. They theorize there were springs nearby that were drowned by rising seas. A drone with a thermal camera is looking for past freshwater areas.

They have uncovered thousands of pottery sherds, spindle whorls, and obsidian revealing an extensive trade network based on long distance canoe trade networks. Obsidian came from as far away as central Mexico. 20,000 animal bones of sharks, rays, turtles, gastropods. LIDAR surveys will begin soon looking for house mounds and pyramids.

The research is published here:
]Rescuing ancient Maya history from the plow
More information: Jeffrey B. Glover et al, The Proyecto Costa Escondida: Historical ecology and the study of past coastal landscapes in the Maya area, The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology (2022).  DOI: 10.1080/15564894.2022.2061652
Provided by Georgia State University   

Phys.org has the report here:
https://phys.org/news/2022-07-secrets-ancient-coastal-maya.html

July 15, 2022

INAH has been working on a Palenque preservation project in Chiapas for four years. They have restored four buildings within the Palenque main palace. They have uncovered a fragment of the original red paint on House D confirming the roofs of the palace were painted red. The red pigments for the paint were a mixture of minerals including iron oxide. The red paint was discover in the 1960’s and then covered one with cement to preserve it. And it was not recorded.

This area was for surveillance to control the palace entrance and to maintain the palace roof.

Newsinseconds.com has the report and photos here;
https://newsinseconds.com/a-red-palace-for-the-red-queen-at-palenque-mexico/

Researchers used genetic and pollen analyses at the Maya site of Yaxnohcah in the Yucatan (1000 BCE-200 CE) to date wild and cultivated plants there. A team from across North America 
collected and analyzed 38 soil samples, finding evidence of wild trees and plants growing near the city.  

The ancient Maya left much of the rainforest intact. But in other areas, researchers found evidence that the rainforest had given way to savanna dominated by pine trees that persisted for 1,000 years, perhaps from repeated slash-and-burn agriculture or from soil conducive to their growth.

Researchers also found a large diversity of plants the ancient Maya grew for food, fuel, medicine and construction, including maize, chili peppers, squash, manioc, and cotton. Along the city’s former stone-faced garden terraces, created to take advantage of rainfall, they discovered evidence of a wide variety of crops including avocados, hog plums, fruits called sapotes, matasanos and squash.

The study concluded that deforested parts of the rainforest quickly recovered, showing the resilience of the ecosystem over time. 

UC geography professor Nicholas Dunning said,  “The findings mirror those we found at Tikal and paint a picture of the ancient Maya as fairly conscientious forest managers. But we also found evidence of periods and places of environmental degradation in the form of accelerated soil erosion.”

Yaxnohcah was occupied for more than 2,000 years and no doubt faced intermittent natural disasters such as droughts or manmade ones like the depletion of resources that required resilience and creative solutions.

UC’s analysis also identified ancient paper and ink, which was used in a variety of Maya products, including clothing, adornments and ancient manuscripts known as a codex. 
The Maya used dyed paper cloth in adornments as well as in headpieces. They also used special paper in ceremonies, for example, to absorb blood, then burned as an offering to various gods.

The research was published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution.

uc.edu has the report here;
https://www.uc.edu/news/articles/2022/06/ancient-maya-used-sustainable-farming-forestry-for-millennia.html

June 25, 2022

A 1,300 year old sculpture of the Maya Maize God has been uncovered at the Maya site of Palenque, in Chiapas. The discovery was made last July but just announced. The sculpture was placed over a pool a stuccoed floor and walls, honoring the entrance of the Maize God to the underworld. It was placed in an east-west position “which would symbolize the birth of the corn plant with the first rays of the sun,” INAH said. It is dated to 700-850 CE. 

INAH said that vegetable matter, bones of various animals including turtles, quail and domestic dogs, shells, crab claws, ceramic pieces, miniature anthropomorphic figurines and pieces of obsidian blades and seeds among other items were also deposited in a closed-off compartment where the sculpture – which lay hidden for about 1,300 years.

“Some animal bones had been cooked and others have … teeth marks,” he said, explaining that indicated that meat was eaten by the inhabitants of Palenque as part of a ritual.

The maize god head was exposed to humidity and is currently undergoing a process of gradual drying, INAH said, adding that it will subsequently be restored by specialists.

Mexico News Daily has the report here:
https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/maya-corn-god-statue-palenque-chiapas/

And here is a You Tube Video of there find;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GTb-x1dVEY

June 25, 2022

A 1,300 year old sculpture of the Maya Maize God has been uncovered at the Maya site of Palenque, in Chiapas. The discovery was made last July but just announced. The sculpture was placed over a pool a stuccoed floor and walls, honoring the entrance of the Maize God to the underworld. It was placed in an east-west position “which would symbolize the birth of the corn plant with the first rays of the sun,” INAH said. It is dated to 700-850 CE. 

INAH said that vegetable matter, bones of various animals including turtles, quail and domestic dogs, shells, crab claws, ceramic pieces, miniature anthropomorphic figurines and pieces of obsidian blades and seeds among other items were also deposited in a closed-off compartment where the sculpture – which lay hidden for about 1,300 years.

“Some animal bones had been cooked and others have … teeth marks,” he said, explaining that indicated that meat was eaten by the inhabitants of Palenque as part of a ritual.

The maize god head was exposed to humidity and is currently undergoing a process of gradual drying, INAH said, adding that it will subsequently be restored by specialists.

Mexico News Daily has the report here:
https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/maya-corn-god-statue-palenque-chiapas/

And here is a You Tube Video of there find;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GTb-x1dVEY

April 10, 2022

Jaime Awe has done a study on two rock shelters in the rainforest of Belize. 85 skeletons have been unearthed at those rock shelters, 50 of these individuals have been radio carbon dated to 1,000-9,600 years ago. Geneticists then studied these remains and obtained high quality DNA from the inner ear bones of 20 of these individuals. They found that the oldest individuals in this group lived 9,600 to 7.300 years ago. This is the oldest DNA from any rain forest rock shelter. These resemble hunter-gatherers coming in an ancient migration from the north. But at 5,600 years ago, the DNA shifted and showed these individuals came from individuals living from Columbia to Costa Rica who are Chibcha speakers.

The Maya got half of their DNA from the southern immigrants, the remainder from the most ancient settlers who emigrated from the north and some from the Mexican highlands. Other researchers studied the teeth of the rock shelter people. The teeth showed a steady increase in maize consumption over time. Between 5,600 to 4,000 years ago, maize consumption soared to 50% of the diet. Maize was partially domesticated 9.000 years ago in southwest Mexico, but not fully domesticated till 6,500 years ago in Peru and Bolivia. These southern migrants brought their fully domesticated maize to Belize 5.600 years ago.

Thus it was migrants from South America who were responsible for kicking off the Maya civilization.

Science.org has the report here.
https://www.science.org/content/article/maya-and-maize-sustained-them-had-surprising-southern-roots-ancient-dna-suggests

March 12, 2022

Brigham Young University and Mexican archaeologists have found evidence of Maya sites chosen for the best cacoa tree plantings. They conducted soil analyses of 11 sinkholes in the Yucatan and found theobromine and caffeine biomarkers for cocoa production, ceremonial rituals construction in staircase ramps, stone carvings, altars, offerings of jade and ceramics in several sinkholes.

The team worked on a soil extraction method drying soil samples, putting the dry soil through a sieve covered in hot water, centrifuged them through extraction discs and analyzing the samples with mass spectrometry, comparing the results to seven control samples with no cacao biomarkers.

A 70 mile Maya highway was constructed for long distance cacao trade which impacted all of Mesoamerica. In one sinkhole near Coba, they found the arm and bracelet of a figurine attached to a incense jarred ceramics modeled as cocoa pods. This sinkhole find is dated at 1000-1400 CE. Elites controlled these sinkholes since cacao beans were used as currency across Mesoamerica.

Researchers for the project also came from University of California, Riverside, the University of Miami, State University of New York, Kent State University, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico, Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia, and the Cultural Heritage and Archaeology in the Maya Area institution.

The research is published in the Journal of Archaeological Science Reports

Science Daily has the report here

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/01/220131095024.htm

Mike Ruggeri’s Ancient Maya News on Tumblr

http://mikeruggerisacientmayanew.tumblr.com

Mike Ruggeri’s Ancient Maya News on WordPress

https://mikeruggerismaya.news.blog

Posted on November 27, 2021by mikerugger

November 27, 2021

Researchers using LIDAR and drones at the border and on site inspection between Mexico and Guatemala have shown the Maya built extensive irrigation and terracing between 350-900 CE, with sustainable agriculture and no food insecurity.

For years, experts in climate science and ecology have held up the agricultural practices of the ancient Maya as prime examples of what not to do.

“There’s a narrative that depicts the Maya as people who engaged in unchecked agricultural development,”The population grew too large, the agriculture scaled up, and then everything fell apart.”

The researchers studied a triangle of land connecting Piedras Negras, La Mar and Sak Tz’i’.

They were 15 miles away from one another and these three urban centers had very different population sizes and governing power,

They modified the land to increase the volume and predictability of crop yields. building terraces and creating water management systems with dams and channeled fields. These kingdoms were not only prepared for population growth but also likely saw food surpluses every year.

By the late Classic Period, around 600 to 800 A.D., the area’s farmers were producing more food than they were consuming,”“It’s likely that much of the surplus food was sold at urban marketplaces, both as produce and as part of prepared foods like tamales and gruel, and used to pay tribute, a tax of sorts, to local lords.”

The research is published in the journal Remote Sensing.

Brown University report here:
https://www.brown.edu/news/2021-11-16/lidar

Mike Ruggeri’s Ancient Maya News on WordPress
https://mikeruggerismaya.news.blog

September 29, 2021

Archaeologist Akira Ichikawa, at the University of Colorado Boulder, has found that the Maya returned to sites that were destroyed after a catastrophic volcanic eruption much sooner than thought. He studied the site of San Andrés in El Salvador.

In AD 539, the Ilopango volcano erupted, the largest in Central America over the past 10,000 years, and the largest on Earth over the past 7,000 years. it covered the area around the volcano in waist-high ash for 35 kilometers. It also blew itself apart, leaving behind a deep gash that is now a crater lake.

It greatly impacted the Maya civilization, sending it into a period of decline due to the loss of nearby settlements and cooler temperatures across the Northern Hemisphere. Historians have debated how soon the Maya returned to the area, most suggesting it took hundreds of years. Ichikawa has shown evidence of the Maya returning to a site 40 miles west of the volcano between 30 and 80 years after the eruption. They built a large pyramid using ash and dirt.

Ichikawa analyzed samples from the ground and from the Campana structure, a pyramid resting atop a large platform. He found that work on the structure appears to have begun approximately 30 years after the eruption, though it could have been as long as 80 years.

The data suggests that the Maya returned to the area quickly. They built the pyramid as a way to appease the gods who had shown their anger by setting off the eruption.

The research is published in Cambridge Core

Phys.org has the report here;
https://phys.org/news/2021-09-ancient-mayans-built-pyramid-partly.html

September 29, 2021

Dartmouth researchers studied the Maya site of Yaxunam and E groups in the Maya lowlands that are astronomically aligned with equinoxes and solstices.

Maya rulers worried the past world would interfere with their authority so they tried to erase the past. The rulers saw themselves as the embodiment of the Sun God and needed to put their persona over their cities. E group sites were built on an east-west axis with a pyramid at the west and a long raised platform at the east. At 400 BCE, E group complexes were built on existing temples, or on top of them. Sometimes, there were 5 or 6 pyramids built over the top of preceding ones. At Yaxunam, precious items like polished magnetite or a ceramic vessel with greenware beads were placed in some of the levels to emphasize continuity.

Other E group structures were ritually destroyed and burned to destroy the energy or soul of a building, and the ashes spread over an area for new uses. Rulers introduced new architecture or massive civic architecture like massive roadways to new districts, creating a more hierarchical politics

The research is published in the Journal Ancient Mesoamerica

Heritage Daily has the report here:
https://www.heritagedaily.com/2021/09/maya-rulers-left-their-mark-on-monumental-complexes/141461

AUGUST 12, 2021

The Maya built reservoir 2,185 years ago at the site of Tikal, early in its history. It relied on crystalline quartz and zeolite, a compound of silicon and aluminum to create a molecular sieve which removed harmful microbes, heavy metals and other pollutants, and these remained in use until Tikal was abandoned around 1100. Today, the same minerals are used in modern water filtration systems, and not discovered for use in modern times till the 20th century.

Other reservoirs in the area were polluted with mercury from pigments the Maya used on walls and burials. The quartz and zeolite came from 18 miles away. Teams will now look for similar techniques at other sites.

Smithsonian has the report here with photos: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/researchers-uncover-2000-year-old-mayan-water-filtration-system-180976186/?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=socialmedia&fbclid=IwAR2Mt0HJYd1g2vFxVY-eT7k0x88ZbEhrDnktifJ9GSEoRf7ks6bvCtpHrOM

AUGUST 12, 2021

Archaeologists using billions of LIDAR shots at the ground in the Puuc region of the Yucatan have found extensive Maya structures including artificial reservoirs, 1,200 ovens, farming terraces, 8,000 housing platforms, each house having 2-3 rooms. Four large acropolises dating from 700 BCE-450 BCE, civic centers built from 600-750 CE in very distinct city layouts not seen elsewhere. Elite housing was dispersed throughout, and not concentrated. No defensive structures exist. This looks like a very large peaceful community.

They built cisterns to collect rainwater in their limestone terrain, and aqueducts with long channels. They had a widespread stone working industry with quarries and 1,232 circular ovens to heat sandstone to produce lime for mortar and to soften maize for help with nutrients.

The study was published online Wednesday (April 28) in the journal PLOS One.

Live Science has the report here with photos:

https://www.livescience.com/lidar-maya-yucatan.html?fbclid=IwAR0qHtd6UyROLqZm0WpDvLuG59VgGdsW9j0HWFKa1x_E0pf84t8hBls4bSc

AUGUST 12, 2021

June 24, 726 CE, Ajpach ‘Waal met with the great 18 Rabbit at Copan in Honduras. Ajpach ‘Wall was from El Palmar 200 miles away over rugged terrain, a month on foot away. The meeting was memorialized on a monument at Copan and on a monument at El Palmar. Ajpach ‘Waal’s title was “Bannerman.” He may be buried near the monument. The monument was constructed on September 14 CE. There is a staircase with 164 limestone block glyphs, unusual for a site so small. The ruler of Calakmul is depicted, belonging to the Snake dynasty. Ajpak ‘Waal went to Copan on behalf of the king of Calakmul, perhaps to broker an alliance against Tikal.

Ajpjk ‘Waal was a royal diplomat or Lakam. The possible burial site of Ajpach was very modest. The bones found indicate the life of a man who had malnutrition and possibly scurvy. He had shin injuries possibly related to playing the ball game, and ballplayers are depicted in the glyphs. He had severe arthritis like a Lakam you have hiking long distances over rugged terrain. He had jade and pyrite teeth inlays.

On May 3, A.D. 738, 18 Rabbit was captured and beheaded by rebels from Quiriguá, supported by Ajpach’ Waal’s patron, the king of Calakmul. Calakmul itself then fell to Tikal. After that Ajpach’s standing fell, and he could not pay for a missing tooth with an inlay. His burial place was celebrated with a fire ceremony and maintained by his family.

Archaeology.org has the story with photos: https://www.archaeology.org/issues/430-2107/features/9751

APRIL 1, 2021

Archaeologists at the Maya site of Tikal have found buildings and artifacts that appear to be an outpost of Teotihuacan, 600 miles away. The structures were made of earth and stucco that the Maya did not use. Weapons of green obsidian from the area of Teotihuacan, carvings of the Teotihuacan rain god and a Teotihuacan type burial were found. Teotihuacan dignitaries may have lived there during a time of peace before warfare between them began. The area looks too have been built at 300 CE. Teotihuacan conquered Tikal at 378 CE.

On January 15378 CE, a man by the name of Sihyaj K’ahk’, or Fire is Born, into the city on January 16, 378, and on that same day, the Tikal leader Jaguar Paw died. The Teotihuacan army was sent by the Two leader Spearthrower Owl. His son became king of Tikal. He wears a Too headdress and a Two spear in portraits. Maya murals at Teotihuacan were destroyed and buried at 350-450 CE, perhaps from a Tikal diplomatic compound there.

The compound at Tikal were located by LIDAR, and excavations in this area will continue.

Smithsonian has the report here: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/were-these-ancient-mesoamerican-cities-friends-they-became-foes-180977509/

March 29, 2021

The giant mask found at the sit of Ucanha has been dated to the 4th century CE. INAH said the mask was found in 2017 and protected from looters then by not announcing the discovery.

Jacob Welch, a graduate student at Yale University found the mask along with a team made up of Mexican and American researchers, laborers and other students.

Excavation of the mask began in 2019.

Inah has reared the mask which portrays a ruler or deity with a large, protruding nose and an elongated head. Intricately carved symbols flank the face on both sides.

Yucatan Magazine and

https://yucatanmagazine.com/grad-student-uncovers-colossal-ancient-maya-mask-in-yucatan/

And

Smithsonian Magazine have the reports here with photos: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/giant-maya-mask-restored-180976835/

March 29, 2021

Archaeologists have studied remains of 180 homes in the Maya site of Uxbenká and 93 homes in the smaller nearby city of Ix Kuku’il, both dated from roughly 250 to 900 AD.

The researchers gauged wealth inequality based on the mix of large and smaller homes, along with the size and nature of the structures.

Wealth inequality begins with food production. The surplus is commanded by a few individuals. They coerce others to provide labor and goods.

The researchers compared their findings to other studies of homes in  ancient cities in Mesoamerica, In Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley, where more collective forms of governance existed, there was less disparity in homes.

Teotihuacan in central Mexico, had lesser degrees of inequality as measured by domestic space than did the Classic Maya sites despite the fact Teotihuacan had a population of 200,00.

Uxbenká and Ix Kuku’il, about 25 miles (40 km) from the Caribbean coast, boasted monumental architecture including temples about 30 feet (10 meters) tall. The foundations of the small houses often measured roughly 13 by 20 feet (4 by 6 meters) and the large ones reached approximately 40 by 66 feet (12 by 20 meters).

The larger ones had more elaborate architecture and imported and luxury goods including jade, marine shell, personal adornments and the volcanic glass called obsidian, used for blades and other purposes.

Classic Maya society featured social groups including royal leadership, nobles, merchants, artisans and crafts people, and a larger number of farmers and laborers. But the Maya had a more despotic system than those in the same time period in the rest of Mesoamerica.

WSAU.com has the report here:

https://wsau.com/2021/03/24/maya-ruins-in-belize-offer-peek-at-ancient-wealth-inequality/

March 28, 2021

Washington State University researchers have detected marigold in residues from 14 miniature Maya ceramic vessels buried 1,000 years ago in the Yucatan. These vessels also contain types of dried and cured tobacco. The marigold would have made the tobacco taste better.

The analysis methods were developed in collaboration between the Department of Anthropology and the Institute of Biological Chemistry to give researchers the ability to investigate drug use in the ancient world like never before.

Mark Zimmermann and colleagues’ work was funded by the NSF, which led to a new metabolomics-based analysis method that can detect thousands of plant compounds or metabolites in residue collected from containers, pipes, bowls and other archaeological artifacts. The compounds can then be used to identify which plants were consumed.

Zimmermann helped unearth two of the ceremonial vessels that were used for the analysis in the spring of 2012. Zimmerman’s team now want to study other ancient containers and the dental plaque of ancient humans in Mexico using the same new methods. This will revolutionize the study of psycho-active drugs in the ancient world.

WSU.edu has the report here with photos:

https://news.wsu.edu/2021/01/15/wsu-scientists-identify-contents-ancient-maya-drug-containers/?utm_source=WSUNews-enewsletter&utm_campaign=wsunewsenewsletter&utm_medium=email&fbclid=IwAR3XFq4a69ZJI1iMnQvEe1Tq6UQaDTLiAy24S1P3QB7x9HX_F9LYXN8e508

March 28, 2021

Researcher Heather McKillop has found proof in an ancient 2,500 year old mural at the Maya site of Calakmul, in the Yucatan, that the Maya used salt cakes wrapped in leaves being sold at a marketplace by a salt vendor. Mckillop and her team discovered the first ancient Maya salt kitchens of pole and thatch submerged in a saltwater lagoon in Belize in 2004..

They have mapped 70 sites in the Paynes Creek Salt Works in a mangrove forest in Belize. They found 4,042 submerged architectural wooden posts, a canoe, an oar, a high-quality jadeite tool, stone tools used to salt fish and meat and hundreds of pieces of pottery. They were making a surplus of these salt cakes for trade by canoes up rivers. They were making these in pots in standardized units.

Her paper was published in the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology. Heather McKillop. 2021. Salt as a commodity or money in the Classic Maya economy. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 62: 101277; doi: 10.1016/j.jaa.2021.101277

Sci-News has the story here with the mural:

http://www.sci-news.com/archaeology/maya-salt-money-09479.html

November 14, 2020

A team of UC anthropologists, geographers and biologists identified crystalline quartz and zeolite imported miles from the city. The quartz found in the coarse sand along with zeolite, a crystalline compound consisting of silicon and aluminum, create a natural molecular sieve. Both minerals are used in modern water filtration.

The filters would have removed harmful microbes, nitrogen-rich compounds, heavy metals such as mercury and other toxins from the water, said Kenneth Barnett Tankersley, associate professor of anthropology and lead author of the study.

“What’s interesting is this system would still be effective today and the Maya discovered it more than 2,000 years ago,” Tankersley said.

UC’s discovery was published in the journal Scientific Reports.

Researchers traced the zeolite and quartz to steep ridges around the Bajo de Azúcar about 18 miles northeast of Tikal. They used X-ray diffraction analysis to identify zeolite and crystalline quartz in the reservoir sediments.

Maya cities were built atop porous limestone that made ready access to drinking water difficult to obtain for much of the year during seasonal droughts.

“They had settling tanks where the water would be flowing toward the reservoir before entering the reservoir. The water probably looked cleaner and probably tasted better, too,” he said.

In a related paper published earlier this year in Scientific Reports, UC’s research team found that some reservoirs in Tikal eventually became polluted with toxic levels of mercury, possibly from a pigment called cinnabar the Maya used on plaster walls and in ceremonial burials. Corriental remained free of these contaminants.

Complex water filtration systems have been observed in other ancient civilizations from Greece to Egypt to South Asia, but this is the first observed in the ancient New World,

Ancient Maya reservoirs contained toxic pollution: study
More information: Kenneth Barnett Tankersley et al, Zeolite water purification at Tikal, an ancient Maya city in Guatemala, Scientific Reports (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-75023-7

Phys.org had the report here:
https://phys.org/news/2020-10-ancient-maya-built-sophisticated-filters.html

Mike Ruggeri’s Ancient Maya News on Tumblr
http://mikeruggerisacientmayanew.tumblr.com

October 24, 2020

Archaeologists working at the Maya Site of Xultun in Guatemala working at the site of a sweat bath there uncovered a trove of bones and tools. The sweat bath is called Los Sapos, the embodiment of a toad-like Maya Goddess linked to the cycle of birth and creation. The archaeologists working there are from the Smithsonian Tropical Institute (STRI) and the Archaeology Program at Boston University.

The sweat bath dates to 250-550 CE. A detailed representation of “ix.tzuz.sak,” the Maya Goddess, is shown in squatting position with legs decorated like iguanas and cane toads. The reptilian goddess is here expressed as a physical space.

Uncovered at the new excavation are the remains of child, puppy, birds, toads, iguanas and other young animals. The goddess was seen as one who could take revenge if displeased. The offerings were an attempt to appease her for their survival.

Express.com has the story here with photos:
https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1350491/archaeology-news-maya-sweat-bath-ritual-toad-goddess-guatemala-evg

Mike Ruggeri’s Ancient Maya News on Tumblr
http://mikeruggerisacientmayanew.tumblr.com

August 27, 2020

The Maya practiced auto sacrifice of blood by their rulers to connect to the supernatural. Blood sustained the gods. Bloodletting opened a path to the supernatural world bringing trances and visions. Stingray spines connected the sea with the waters of the underworld.
Foreign material on the spine can cause necrosis. But the ruler risking his life Was a way of attaining privilege. This kind of bloodletting probably only took place to try and achieve divine favor. The ruler was on the line between life and death. And the ruler became a mediator with the gods.

Jstor has the report here;

https://daily.jstor.org/stingray-spines-and-the-maya/

Mike Ruggeri’s Ancient Maya News on Tumblr
http://mikeruggerisacientmayanew.tumblr.com

June 13, 2020

35,000 tiny bone and shell fragments from the Maya site of Ceibal (1000 BCE-1200 CE), Guatemala reveal the ups and downs of the Maya during their 2000 years. Researchers from Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, the University of Arizona, the University of Ibaraki, Japan and Guatemala’s Institute of Anthropology and History and Universidad de San Carlos took part in the study.

They found a dramatic shift in diet from apple snails and mollusks to vertebrate such as deer. Perhaps diverting water for irrigation dried up water sources There were many different dogs, and indications that some were eaten.

An adult male buried at 700-450 BCE was buried with hundreds of apple snails, maybe a burial feast. The shift to fish, turtle and deer happened 2000 years ago. There is evidence of deforestation and erosion around 200 CE which destroyed wetland habitats. The number of turtles found indicate the Maya at Ceibal may have imported turtles. The elite consumed deer and lower classes ate armadillo, rabbits, pacas, agoutis, possums, raccoons, weasels and armadillos, anteaters and even an occasional peccary or tapir.

A few entire dog skeletons were found intentionally buried under the floors, leading to the idea that some dogs may have been pets.

Turkeys were imported after the Pre-Classic, probably from Central Mexico.

Ceibal elites wore feline paws and skins on stelae. In a trash heap behind the royal palace, researchers discovered margay and kinkajou mandibles, the arm of an anteater, a bull shark tooth, and sea urchin spines, perhaps also the remains of costumes or other royal paraphernalia.

“Then suddenly everything stopped around 950 AD during the famous ’Maya Collapse’ when all the cities were abandoned,” Sharpe said “Only a few people occasionally returned to the edges of the site in the centuries after that.”
“The focus of Maya archaeology up until now has been large monumental sites, and especially the royal elites during the Classic period,” Sharpe said. “We hope to excavate residences and older sites to get a better idea of what society was like for the majority of the Maya people.”

The research is published in the journal PLOS One.

Smithsonian has the report here with lots of slides;
https://stri.si.edu/story/buried-snails

Mike Ruggeri’s Ancient Maya News on WordPress
https://mikeruggerismaya.news.blog

June 3, 2020

 

LIDAR has uncovered a site called Aguada Fenix in Tabasco, Mexico dated to 1000-800 BCE. It stand 8-10 meters high with nine causeways leading to it. It is larger then the pyramid of Giza. Jade axes and other artifacts have been found. There are no sculptures of elites at the site and the structures there may have been built largely by migratory peoples.

CNN has the report here with photos;
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/03/world/biggest-oldest-mayan-temple-aguada-fnix-archeology-scn/index.html

Lead archaeologist Takeshi Inomata, an archaeologist at the University of Arizona uncovered the site using LIDAR after seeing a map published in 2011 covering a large area of Tabasco and Chiapas. Dr. Inomata could see sites below the jungle canopy, and using LIDAR from the information on this map has found 27 previously unknown sites. These sites had construction styles never seen before.

Dr. Inomata and his team began studying Ceibal to understand the relationship between the earlier Olmec culture and the Maya. Ceibal had many Olmec style artifacts. So the team spread out from Ceibal. And they found the 2011 map which made the job much easier.

And they are uncovering rectangular platforms that are low, and some two-thirds of a mile long. These newly discovered 27 sites are also contemporaneous with Ceibal at 1000-800 BCE. The amount of labor involved in building these structures is staggering. And they were built with mobile populations in massive communal enterprises.

A NY Times report in 2019 talks of the early work by Dr. Inomata in the area using the free map they used to locate the new sites.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/08/science/archaeology-lidar-maya.html

The new huge pyramid at Aguada Fenix was built of earth and clay. It is a quarter-mile wide and nine-tenths of a mile long. Besides the nine large causeways, there is a series of reservoirs linked to the structure.

The Guardian has that report here;
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/jun/03/maya-structure-discovered-mexico-lidar-aguada-fenix

Phys.org has a video here;
https://phys.org/news/2020-06-largest-oldest-maya-monument-importance.html

Mike Ruggeri’s Ancient Maya News on WordPress
https://mikeruggerismaya.news.blog

May 20, 2020

UNAM/INAH researchers have discovered the oldest traces of bonfires in the Yucatan region in the cave of Aktun-Ha in Quintana Roo. The fires are 10,500 years old. The now underwater cave was dry at that time. 13,000 years ago, migrants from central Mexico arrived in Quintana Too. 8 skeletons have been found with skulls different than the native inhabitants, adapted to a colder climate and weighing less and smaller.
The caves were used by the inhabitants for funeral and ritual activities.

The entrance to the now flooded cave is through a cenote. The researchers had to ensure the coals they found were not transported by water to the site. Various scientific testing method proved that the age of the fires was determined to be 10,500 years old and were produced right there.

The research is published in the journal Geoarchaeology. The work was financed by UNAM, the University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain, and the National Geographic Society.

The Yucatan Times has the story with photos here;
https://www.theyucatantimes.com/2020/05/tulum-cenote-reveals-10500-year-old-secrets/

Mike Ruggeri’s Ancient Maya in Quintana Roo Magazine
http://bit.ly/1DY0uZR

Mike Ruggeri’s Ancient Maya News on WordPress
https://mikeruggerismaya.news.blog

April 6, 2020

The Calusa were a huntergatherer/fisher society in Florida and the island of Mound Key

New research indicates they captured and stored fish in walled structures called watercourses made of shell and sediments. They walled off parts of an estuary for short term holding before eating, smoking or drying the fish.

Remote sensing has revealed two large shell mounds, a grand canal, and two large watercourses. A marine highway of 2,000 feet long and 100 feet wide bisected the key. There was a yards long opening to drive fish into the enclosures which would be closed with a gate or net. These structures were built at 1300-1400 CE

The research was published in PNAS;
Victor D. Thompson et al. Ancient engineering of fish capture and storage in southwest Florida. PNAS, published online March 30, 2020; doi: 10.1073/pnas.1921708117

Sci-News has the report here.
http://www.sci-news.com/archaeology/calusa-watercourts-08288.html

Mike Ruggeri’s Moundbuilders/Ancient Southwest News on WordPress
https://mikeruggerismoundbuildersancientsouthwest.news.blog

Mike Ruggeri’s Ancient Mississippian World Magazine
http://bit.ly/1EhnzvE

March 31, 2020

On January 16, 378 CE, Sihyaj K’ahk’ (SEE-yah Kak), or Fire is Born entered Tikal in Guatemala. He may have been from Teotihuacan and may have entered with an army. Maya monuments at the site record the event. Chak Tok Ich’aak, or Jaguar Paw, the long-reigning king of Tikal, died on the day he arrived. He may have been sent by Spearthrower Owl whose son became king of Tikal within 2 years. His name was Yax Nuun Ayiin, He has a Teotihuacan style atlatl and headdress, and the images of him and his father at Tikal are drawn in a Teo style. Tikal became very powerful thereafter.
There is controversy about these interpretations. The new rulers may have been Maya royalty who adopted Teo symbolism.

A team of archaeologists have uncovered the evidence of a giant feast dated at 300-350 CE, They have excavated so far 10,000 ceramic pieces and an additional 250 pieces are excavated each day. They believe Maya and Teotihuacano guests were at the feast together, The team has excavated a compound of buildings with vivid murals. Perhaps the Teotihuacano guests were diplomats and nobles sent to cement royal marriages and alliances. Decades after the feast, the murals were smashed and buried. Faces were obliterated. This destruction took place at 350-400 CE.

Nearby, a mass burial has been found, the bodies in pieces. Some skulls have flat backs and dental jewelry that are Maya in style. DNA and dietary isotopes will be taken to see if these are Maya people. The bones were dumped in the burial pit at the time of the feast. 

There is evidence that the new ruler at Tikal expanded his influence over a wide area.  Teo style murals show up at Holmul 25 miles away. Friendly kings were established at many Maya cities. But there is little evidence of Teo people living at Tikal. Sihyaj K’ahk may have been a Maya usurper using the Teotihuacan attire and symbolism to enhance his power. Isotopic analysis shows he grew up near Tikal. Other archaeologists are looking for real evidence of a Teotihuacan conquest. LIDAR has found possible fortifications with watch towers nearby Tikal. Excavations of these sites will begin in May. They may find whether these places were built by the Teotihuacanos or the Maya.

The detailed report on this new and exciting research is published in Science magazine with photos;
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/02/astounding-new-finds-suggest-ancient-empire-may-be-hiding-plain-sight

Mike Ruggeri’s Ancient Maya News on WordPress
https://mikeruggerismaya.news.blog

Mike Ruggeri’s Teotihuacan World on Word Press
https://mikeruggeristeotihuacanworld.home.blog

March 23, 2020

A local farmer in Chiapas found a 2 by 4 feet ancient Maya tablet in the community of Lacanja Tzeltal. It turned out that this tablet is at the Maya site of Sak Tz’i’. This place is referenced in sculptors and inscriptions across the Maya world. The tablets tell a story about a water serpent, unnamed gods, a mythic flood and accounts of the births, deaths and battles of ancient rulers. The tablets meanings were announced at Brandeis University. The site was on the border between Mexico and Guatemala.

It was settled in 750 CE and was occupied for more than 1,000 years. It was protected by a stream with a steep ravine on one side and defensive walls on the other side. It probably made alliances for protection. There is a figure of a dancing figure on the excavated tablet, probably of the god Yoopat, associated with violent storms. He is holding a lightning bolt axe and a stone weapon. Another sculpture at the site tells of a fire at the site during a conflict.

Since summer of 2018, when the local farmer found the tablet, archaeologists have excavated pyramids, a royal palace, a ball court and a ceremonial plaza. One pyramid has carved stelae around it. Lidar will be employed for further research.

The research is published in the December 2019 Journal of Field Archaeology.

Live Science has the report here with photos.
https://www.livescience.com/maya-kingdom-discovered-in-mexico.html

Mike Ruggeri’s Ancient Maya News on WordPress
https://mikeruggerismaya.news.blog

Mike Ruggeri’s Ancient Chiapas Magazine
http://bit.ly/1CetbSr

March 7, 2020

Archaeologists at Miami University and the Yucatan have carried out the first lidar study of the 80 mile stone highway (sacbe) that connected the Maya sites of Coba and Yaxuna in the Yucatan. The researchers believe that the road was commissioned by Lady K’awiil Ajaw, ruler of Coba, at the end of the 7th century. The lidar found 8,000 structures along the sacbe. They found that the earlier Carnegie Institute study theorizing the road was a straight one was wrong. The sacbe veered to connect other sites along the way.

So they have found many new towns and cities. It appears that Lady K’awiil Ajaw built the road to invade Yaxuna. She is depicted in stone carvings, beginning in 640 CE, trampling over bound captives. The large city of Chichen Itza was beginning to dominate the area, and Lady K’awiil Ajaw may have built the road to get a foothold in the area against Chichen Itza. She is documented as conducting wars of territorial expansion.

The team is excavating household clusters on the edge of Coba and Yaxuna along the Great White Road to find similarities in goods between the two sites.

The report is published in the Journal of Archaeological Science.

Miami.edu has the report here with a few photos;
https://news.miami.edu/stories/2020/02/modern-technology-reveals-old-secrets-about-the-great-white-maya-road.html?fbclid=IwAR02J59r-k1O-qwTdeEyBO5KBKeNfbtL-JpkhwIJwRL3ERUUrVs6_xFjnbY

February 22, 2020

INAH has discovered a walled up passage in the Governor’s Palace at Uxmal dated at 570-770 CE. They found a Chaac mask and three staircases and two Maya arches that may correspond to the earliest architectural style at Uxmal. This passage shows us the Palace was divided into three segments linked by vaulted corridors. In the 10th century, conflict with Chichen Itza may have led to restricting access  to protect the Puuc dynasty by way of walking off this passage.

The report was printed in the Yucatan times and reprinted at archaeology news network with many photos;

https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2019/12/secret-passage-discovered-in-maya-city.html

Mike Ruggeri’s Ancient Maya News on WordPress
https://mikeruggerismaya.news.blog

Mike Ruggeri’s Ancient Yucatan Magazine
http://bit.ly/1967BGj

A Vast Palace Structure Uncovered at the Maya site of Kaluba in the Yucatan

December 30, 2019

INAH has unearthed a vast Maya palace at the site of Kaluba, in the Yucatan. There are six rooms in the structure. It is part of a larger complex that also includes two residential rooms, an altar and a large round oven. Archaeologists have also uncovered remains from a burial site, and hope forensic analysis of the bones could provide more clues about Kulubá’s Mayan inhabitants.

The palace was in use from 600-900 CE, and then again from 850-1050 CE. The structures uncovered are just part of the vast complex yet to be uncovered.

INAH is considering bringing back some of the forest cover to protect the site from the elements.

The Guardian has the report here with photos and a video;
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/27/archaeologists-discover-remains-of-vast-mayan-palace

Human Bones at the Maya Site of Uxul Researched

December 15, 2019

Maya archaeologists found human bones in a water reservoir in the Maya city of Uxul in 2013. They were killed and dismembered at 600 CE. UNAM has carried out a strontium isotope analysis. Some of the dead came from 95 miles away in Guatemala. Some were locals of high status with jade and engravings on their teeth. Most of the bones had cuts and injuries done by stone blades. The victims were beheaded and dismembered before being thrown into the reservoir. The body parts were widely scattered to destroy the physical unity of the individuals.

This kind of ritual was carried out on prisoners of war to display the power of the victor.

Phys.org has the report here.
https://phys.org/news/2019-12-isotope-analysis-mayan-prisoners-war.html?fbclid=IwAR1dcJWx3C6-scDgTXBWKRGeK3kzLBajcB-EAGf4-3FrKji-GzNIYzxWuC0

Mike Ruggeri’s Ancient Maya News on WordPress
https://mikeruggerismaya.news.blog

October 11, 2019

The Maya of Belize acted to limit population and environmental pressures by creating massive agricultural features, burn events and farming to increase atmospheric CO2 and methane. Researchers found that the Bird of Paradise wet fieled complex was five times larger than thought. Using Lidar to map the ground, the researchers saw the huge fields and canals that the Maya built to ward off the effects of rising sea levels and drought.

The Maya converted forests to wetland field complexes and canals to manage water quality and quantity.

The research is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Archaeology News Network has the report here;
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2019/10/ancient-maya-canals-and-fields-show.html#3xJZDf58t4JEsf1R.97

Mike Ruggeri’s Ancient Maya News on Tumblr
http://mikeruggerisacientmayanew.tumblr.com

August 21, 2019

INAH Uncovers a Fortress Wall Around Uxmal

INAH has found a two mile long fortress wall surrounding the site of Uxmal in the Yucatan. It is now covered by thick jungle, but INAH is talking of restoration. More than half of Uxmal is still uncovered.

A drawing of the wall was printed in John Stephens’ “Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan” in 1841. The wall was not searched for again till recently.

The wall was for defense and marked off the elite population from the rest. The elite lived inside the walls. The wall had 20 entry points and rainwater tanks. Some of it was built hastily as if to protect against imminent danger.

Maya settlements in Mayapán, Chichen Itza and Tulum were also walled in,

The Yucatan Expat Life has the report here;
https://yucatanexpatlife.com/fortress-wall-surrounding-ancient-mayan-city-of-uxmal-is-uncovered/

Mike Ruggeri’s Ancient Americas News on Tumblr
http://michaelruggeriancientamericas.tumblr.com