GUATEMALA: Archaeologists uncover the final wall of a 2,000 year old Mayan mural

Buried in a tunnel deep in the northern jungle of Guatemala, archaeologists have uncovered the final and most elaborate wall of a 2,000 year old Mayan mural proving kings ruled the ancient society much earlier than originally believed. Anthropologist William Saturno, of the University of New Hampshire, first discovered the sacred mural in the ruins of the city of San Bartolo in 2001 but this year excavated the "crown jewel" of the painting. The 30-foot by 3-foot western wall of the underground room depicts the creation myth and the coronation of a Mayan king, with more colors and elaborate brush work than has ever been seen. "This mural tells the mythological history of creation from the Mayan culture and from the foundation of the kings and the gods of the whole culture. Here we have it painted. It's like having a manuscript written 2,000 years ago that we can read for the first time," said Saturno. Radio carbon tests date the mural to around 100 BC almost 900 years earlier than the murals at Bonampak discovered in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula in 1946. Painted in greyish blues, oranges and flesh tones the western wall's elaborate designs signal it was the centerpiece of the room possibly used as a preparation site for royal offerings. For the San Bartolo project's co-director, Monica Urquizu, its artistic beauty is matches the important symbolic content. "It's the artistic beauty and the symbolic content that this mural has that is incredible," she enthused. "The mural is impressive. For me it's a discovery that is just corroborating all that was already known of the Popl Vuh." The mural shows the same rituals of kingship from the later classic Maya period as were discovered in a nearby tomb, showing 800 years of continuity between pre-classic and classic Mayan epics. The tomb, just a mile from the mural site is the earliest known burial site of Mayan kings, and was discovered by Monica Pellecer a Guatemalan anthropologist working with Saturno. She believes the mural just confirms what was already gleaned from an ancient Mayan sacred book called the Popl Vuh. "The mural is impressive. For me it's a discovery that is just corroborating all that was already known from the Popl Vuh," she said. The mural shows the birth, death and resurrection of the maize god's son pictured four times with different animals offering a blood sacrifice from his genitals. First he stands in water with a fish, on land with a deer, in the air wit ha turkey and then finally in a flowery paradise. Then the end of the wall is an image of the newly crowned Mayan king. The ancient city lies 53 km from the nearest town on inaccessible roads and far from drinking water. Saturno first discovered the mural in 2001 by accident. After travelling for days with little food and no water he stumbled into a looter's tunnel to find some shade. When he looked up, delirious from dehydration, he saw the northern wall of mural complex. San Bartolo is older than the nearby ruins at Tikal, but in its heyday was comparable in size. ENDS.

ITN Source | December 17, 2005

Tags:. .incredible. .period. .foundation. .turkey. .lies