HOLMUL Guatemala (The Guardian).- A group of researchers has found the skeletons of a man and a woman who would have been kings of the Maya civilization. The remains could be approximately 1,500 years old and were found in the funerary chambers of one of the three pyramids of the archaeological city of Holmul, located in the Guatemalan jungle.
“We’re pretty sure he’s the king, because we have this big vase with the name of a very important king from a nearby city that controlled this one,” archaeologist Francisco Estrada-Belli told the British media, adding that only the monarchs of civilization could possess such objects.
The discovery of a Holmul king and queen as seen in @NatGeoChannel Lost Treasures of the Maya. Read about it in the 2018 excavation report. Many thanks to @pacunam, @McdGuate @ncalm_uh @MARI_Tulane, and the Holmul team. https://t.co/ZTgFbgp2GR pic.twitter.com/ceiSMFHZDN
— Francisco Estrada-Belli (@F_EstradaBelli) 26 de marzo de 2019
In addition, the bones were found next to the skull of a child, apparently sacrificed, and other valuable objects that suggest the prominent status of these persons.
Amérique #Guatemala #Histoire #Mayas : #Archéologie – #Lidar : le corps d’un roi et d’une reine #maya découverts #Holmul – #Witzna Pyramides via The Guardian news 2019https://t.co/DtKXBwQtYyhttps://t.co/psiLlJMTV2https://t.co/vZraHFLLQghttps://t.co/QhoHcyVTJC pic.twitter.com/II4lBc98a2
— Barthe Claude (@BartheCloclo) 1 de mayo de 2019
The discovery was made thanks to a lidar, a laser device that detected approximately 60,000 structures, from pyramids to entire cities, located deep in the dense Guatemalan jungle. This mechanism makes it possible to determine the distances from a laser emitter to an object or surface and to create three-dimensional maps.
Pacunam LiDAR Initiative is the protagonist on the LiDAR revolution of the Maya. Join the movement! Along with @McdGuate @InguatPrensa and @NatGeo #guatemaya #leaderinlidar #guatemalansrock #longlivelidar #pacunamlidarinitiative #seetobelieve pic.twitter.com/mIF6ERrYZ8
— PACUNAM (@pacunam) 19 de marzo de 2019
Thus, it was determined that the ancient civilization “was much more complex and interconnected than most Maya scholars assumed,” says a recent National Geographic report, which will present the findings through the ‘Maya Lost Treasures’ series beginning May 5 on NatGeo.
The specialists also visited previously unknown pyramids located outside the city of Witzna, north of the Central American country.
In the area they found signs of attacks perpetrated on the site, buildings destroyed, burned, and monuments with images of disfigured kings, suggesting a high level of conflict for centuries. “There is an almost palpable sense of fear in this landscape,” said Stephen Houston, an archeologist at Brown University.
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1 comment
Saying these people would have been “king and queen of the Maya civilization” doesn’t really make any sense. The Maya over any period did not have a centralized ruler… that’s what allowed them to maintain an independent state until about 1698. As the fall of one city, or one ruler did not necessarily mean the fall of the entire culture/civilization. A ruler of one region or city even might not have had any influence in another city as they were almost ruled as independent states similar to the ancient Greeks.