Ancient Maya temple found
2012-07-20 09:27
This photograph shows a carved bust of a man which was
found in the tomb of what archaeologists believe to be a Mayan king in
Guatemala. (Arturo Godoy, Brown University, AP)
Video
VIDEO: Mayan archaeology
2012-07-20 08:25
Dr Loa Traxler discusses the significance of tunnel excavation employed at the Copan Acropolis in this YouTube video.WATCH"The sun was a key element of Maya rulership," lead archaeologist Stephen Houston explained in announcing the discovery by the joint Guatemalan and American team that has been excavating the El Zotz site since 2006.
"It's something that rises every day and penetrates into all nooks and crannies, just as royal power presumably would," said Houston, a professor at Brown University, Rhode Island.
"This building is one that celebrates this close linkage between the king and this most powerful and dominant of celestial presences."
Archaeologists say the temple was likely built to honour the leader buried under the Diablo Pyramid tomb, the governor and founder of the first El Zotz dynasty called Pa'Chan, or "fortified sky".
Excavations
Mayan civilisation, which spread through southern Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Belize, was at its height between 250 and 900CE (Common Era).
Carbon dating places construction of the temple at the early part of that era, somewhere between 350 and 400CE, the archaeologists said.
It is ornately decorated with massive stucco masks, 1.5m tall, each depicting the phases of the sun as it moves east to west, and a painted stucco frieze that the team described as "incredible".
More than half the temple is still to be excavated, co-project leader Thomas Garrison of the University of Southern California told a press conference Wednesday at Guatemala City's National Palace of Culture.
"The temple probably had 14 masks at the height of the frieze, but only eight of them have been documented" so far, which is why excavations must continue, added University of Austin archaeologist Edwin Roman.
Excavations by the Guatemalan and American team began at the El Zotz dig in 2006, but the temple wasn't uncovered until three years ago.
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