Archaeology & History

Mayan king's tomb unearthed in Guatemala

By T.K. Randall
October 7, 2017

Image: Amazon Rainforest in Tena, Ecuador
Credit: Jay / CC BY 2.0 (adapted) The discovery was made within the ruins of the city of El Peru-Waka, a major Mayan settlement that was rediscovered in the 1960s by petroleum workers in northern Guatemala.

Archaeologists unearthed the tomb itself while tunnelling beneath the city's palace acropolis.

Archaeologists have uncovered a jade mask in the tomb of a Mayan king revered as a god https://t.co/GyyclKgkoO pic.twitter.com/mD5MTDjNBW

— Newsweek (@Newsweek) September 15, 2017

"The Classic Maya revered their divine rulers and treated them as living souls after death," said research co-director David Freidel of Washington University."This king's tomb helped to make the royal palace acropolis holy ground, a place of majesty, early in the history of the Wak - centipede - dynasty. It's like the ancient Saxon kings England buried in Old Minster, the original church underneath Winchester Cathedral."

In addition to the king's remains, the team found ceramic vases, shells and a carved crocodile pendant as well as a jade mask that, along with the bones themselves, had been painted bright red.

The mask bears a unique 'Greek Cross' symbol meaning 'Yellow' and 'Precious' in ancient Mayan.

Source: Seeker.com

Tags: Mayan, King