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Maya royal tomb found; Early Classic period and intact.
Posted: 2010-07-19 03:09pm
by Frank Hipper
Sounds like a case of remarkable survival of artifacts from a critical period of Maya history.
Wood?
Textiles?
Exciting!
This tomb is dated between 350 and 400 AD and scientists believe that the Mayan king buried inside it might have been the founder of a dynasty. Houston's team knew that there was a small temple built in the locations of the diggings, a tribute to the sun god and figure of Mayan supremacy, still they were surprised by what they discovered.
“When we sunk a pit into the small chamber of the temple, we hit almost immediately a series of 'caches' -- blood-red bowls containing human fingers and teeth, all wrapped in some kind of organic substance that left an impression in the plaster. We then dug through layer after layer of flat stones, alternating with mud, which probably is what kept the tomb so intact and airtight,” remembers professor Houston.
On May 29, the team had the chance of seeing the Mayan treasures with their own eyes. After the final earthen layer was removed, a cavity was discovered and in the light of a bare light bulb they saw a rainbow of colors as the tomb was covered in paintings, pieces of wood, textiles and many organics Houston had never seen before. “When we opened the tomb,” he said, “I poked my head in and there was still, to my astonishment, a smell of putrification and a chill that went to my bones. The chamber had been so well sealed, for over 1600 years, that no air and little water had entered.”
Link ahoy.
More informative link ahoy.
Re: Maya royal tomb found; Early Classic period and intact.
Posted: 2010-07-19 08:09pm
by Broomstick
The best prize would be if they recovered a Mayan book - we've only got four of them left, out of all that used to exist. Damn Spaniards!
Re: Maya royal tomb found; Early Classic period and intact.
Posted: 2010-07-20 11:43am
by Jeremy
What were the books constructed of?
Re: Maya royal tomb found; Early Classic period and intact.
Posted: 2010-07-20 12:05pm
by Guardsman Bass
Jeremy wrote:What were the books constructed of?
Tree bark. That likely doesn't bode well for any other Mayan books that might be lying around, considering the climate.
Re: Maya royal tomb found; Early Classic period and intact.
Posted: 2010-07-20 12:57pm
by Frank Hipper
Guardsman Bass wrote:Jeremy wrote:What were the books constructed of?
Tree bark. That likely doesn't bode well for any other Mayan books that might be lying around, considering the climate.
I read years and years ago how a ruined codex was found in a burial; all information in it completely destroyed.
Can you imagine the frustration of having a Classic period book in front of you that has been, essentially, erased?
Let's keep hoping for a nice dry cave find.
Re: Maya royal tomb found; Early Classic period and intact.
Posted: 2010-07-20 02:38pm
by Big Phil
Not bloody likely in a rain forest. Walking around the Peten is a bit like being a sauna
Re: Maya royal tomb found; Early Classic period and intact.
Posted: 2010-07-20 03:11pm
by Frank Hipper
SancheztheWhaler wrote:Not bloody likely in a rain forest. Walking around the Peten is a bit like being a sauna
No, it's not likely, but wooden survivals found in caves in the Maya area are known; famous, even.
That the articles in the OP note that
textiles have survived in this tomb give reason to not abondon all hope for a future find....maybe a fart's hope in a windstorm, but codices were coated in lime; I'd be orgasmic at a brittle and fragmentary crust of a page or two.
Re: Maya royal tomb found; Early Classic period and intact.
Posted: 2010-07-20 04:40pm
by Big Phil
I suspect those four codices are all that we have left. After all, if you're using something on a regular basis (as they would with the books) they wouldn't bury them in a tomb, and anything on a tomb was meant to last (meaning it was inscribed in stone) but conveyed only limited information. And Fucker de la Landa really did on number on written documents, which were somewhat limited to begin with, so we're probably SOL.
Re: Maya royal tomb found; Early Classic period and intact.
Posted: 2010-07-20 04:45pm
by Broomstick
Even so, any new carvings of any sort would be welcome - with so little Mayan writing surviving any new inscriptions in any medium is a real find.
Now that the writing has been deciphered I hear there is even some interest in the surviving Maya wanting to relearn the writing system, despite its complexities.
Re: Maya royal tomb found; Early Classic period and intact.
Posted: 2010-07-20 06:04pm
by Big Phil
Broomstick wrote:Even so, any new carvings of any sort would be welcome - with so little Mayan writing surviving any new inscriptions in any medium is a real find.
Now that the writing has been deciphered I hear there is even some interest in the surviving Maya wanting to relearn the writing system, despite its complexities.
Perhaps, but remember that it was the Maya priest classes that were literate (and the nobility, to a lesser extent), not the commoners. Maya nobility were pretty much gone by the 17th century, while the priesthood was restructured to fit the new social order, with many of their former responsibilities being handed over to village herbalists and other commoners. In fact, I sincerely doubt that any direct line can be drawn between Maya Priests of the Post-Classic period and those of today. So other than a few well educated Maya who'd like to reclaim a portion of their past, I doubt there is much widespread interest among Maya today. They tend to have more pressing concerns, like poverty, crime, and disease.
Re: Maya royal tomb found; Early Classic period and intact.
Posted: 2010-07-20 07:03pm
by Broomstick
I suspect some of the interest may go no further than learning to write their name in the old system, but even if that's all, so what? It is part of their culture and I applaud any interest they may take in it, no matter how small. When you're poor and oppressed having anything to cling to beyond mere survival can be a good thing
Re: Maya royal tomb found; Early Classic period and intact.
Posted: 2010-08-03 02:27pm
by Frank Hipper
A more informative
pdf article for those interested.
Good photos at the end of the piece, too.