Latest news with #MiddlePreclassic
Yahoo
3 days ago
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3 ancient Maya cities discovered in Guatemala, 1 with an 'astronomical complex' likely used for predicting solstices
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Archaeologists have discovered the remains of three Maya cities in the Petén jungle of Guatemala. The cities are about 3 miles (5 kilometers) apart and are arranged like a triangle, Guatemala's Ministry of Culture and Sports reported in a translated statement. The cities were settled sometime during a period that archaeologists call the "middle preclassic," which occurred between roughly 1000 and 400 B.C. They were inhabited until around 1,100 years ago, when many Maya cities in the region collapsed. The most important of the three cities is a site archaeologists are calling "Los Abuelos," which means "the grandparents." This name comes from two stone sculptures found at the site: one of a man and another of a woman. They are believed to depict ancestors of those who lived at the site, the statement said, noting that this city may have been a ceremonial center for those who lived in the area. Los Abuelos thrived during the Middle Preclassic (1000 B.C. to 400 B.C.) and Late Preclassic periods (400 B.C. to A.D. 300) before being abandoned and then reinhabited during the Late Classic period (A.D. 600 to 900). It has an astronomical complex with buildings positioned in such a way that solstices and equinoxes can be recorded precisely, the statement said. The remains of a human burial were found at the site, along with the remains of two felines, pottery vessels, shells and arrowheads. Archaeologists also discovered an altar in the shape of a frog and an engraved stone slab known as a stela. Once the Mayan writing on the stela is translated, it may provide more information about the site and the people who lived there. Another newly found city, which archaeologists named "Petnal," has a 108-foot-tall (33 meters) pyramid, the statement said. The top of the pyramid is flat and has a room that houses the remains of murals on its walls. Red, white and black from the murals can still be seen, but more research is needed to determine what the murals depict. Petnal was likely a political center, according to the statement. A frog-shaped altar was also found there. The frog is perceived as a symbol of fertility and rebirth in Maya mythology, wrote researchers Robert Sharer and Loa Traxler in their book "The Ancient Maya: Sixth Edition" (Stanford University Press, 2006). Frog altars have been found at other Maya sites and presumably would have been used in rituals. The third newly found city, which the archaeologists dubbed "Cambrayal," has a network of canals that originates in a water reservoir at the top of a palace, the statement reported. The main purpose of the canals may have been for removing waste. "It's especially exciting to learn about the Los Abuelos site," Megan O'Neil, an associate professor of art history at Emory University who was not part of the excavation team, told Live Science in an email. The stone sculptures found at the site "are especially poignant and are similar to many other examples of Maya people making offerings to vital sculptures and connecting with their ancestors by interacting with sculptures from the past." RELATED STORIES —'Stunning' discovery reveals how the Maya rose up 4,000 years ago —Ancient Maya 'blood cave' discovered in Guatemala baffles archaeologists —Genomes from ancient Maya people reveal collapse of population and civilization 1,200 years ago O'Neil noted that it was important that archaeologists found the remains of intact ceramic vessels during their excavation. In the past, this region was heavily looted and the pottery made by the ancient Maya was taken and sold on the international market. The new finds may "help reconnect items in private and museum collections with their places of origin and deposition, helping return memory to those ceramics, to these sites, and to Maya people living in this region and across the world," O'Neil said. The discoveries of the three cities, along with other newly found sites in the region, were made by a team of archaeologists from Slovakia and Guatemala who were part of the Uaxactún Archaeological Project (PARU), which searches for Maya ruins near the Maya city of Uaxactún. Since 2009, PARU has discovered 176 sites, although only 20 have been excavated. Live Science reached out to archaeologists involved with the research, but they did not answer questions by the time of publication.
Yahoo
09-03-2025
- Science
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2,400-year-old puppets with dramatic expressions found atop pyramid in El Salvador
Archaeologists from the University of Warsaw in Poland have made an unusual discovery, after coming across five ancient puppets atop a massive pyramidal complex in El Salvador, dating back to 400 BC. The rare clay figurines, featuring four female figures and one male, are around 2,400 years old and are believed to have played a role in public rituals reenacting both mythical and real events. According to Jan Szymański, an archaeologist at the University of Warsaw and lead author of the study, the puppets were initially thought to be burial offerings, but the lack of human remains at the site suggested otherwise. "One of the most striking features of the puppets is their dramatic facial expression, which changes depending on the angle that we look at them from," Szymański said, highlighting the puppets appear angry at eye level, grinning from above, and scared from below. "This is a conscious design, perhaps meant to enhance the gamut of ritual performances the puppets could have been used in." While three of the puppets are nearly a foot tall, the other two are much smaller, measuring just 0.6 and 0.3 feet. Additionally, the bigger figurines are entirely bare with no hair or jewelry. On the other hand, the smaller ones are more detailed, featuring locks of hair on their foreheads and earspool in their lobes. All of the figurines had open mouths—some even showing visible tongues—while the three largest had detachable heads with small holes in their necks and tops. The discovery also included figurine fragments scattered across the site. Szymański observed that threading a string through these holes would allow the heads to move side to side, creating the illusion of singing, chanting, or speaking- suggesting they may have functioned as ancient marionette-style puppets. While it's uncertain if the figurines depict real people, researchers believe they were designed for theatrical scenes or tableaus, bringing stories and messages to life. The archaeologists opine the smallest figurine's upper half, which fits into a hollow torso, may have been part of a birth reenactment scene. The rare discovery marks only the second time researchers have found ceramic figurines of this kind in their original location, and the first to include a male figure. In 2012, archaeologists uncovered six broken but complete female figurines at a burial site in Guatemala's western highlands from the Middle Preclassic period. The resemblance between the newly discovered figurines and to those found in Guatemala suggests a shared tradition and connections among the region's elites. This is especially significant given that many of El Salvador's artifacts were lost or buried when the Ilopango volcano erupted between 400 and 500 AD, wiping out all life within a 25-mile radius. Due to the volcano's devastation and the present day's dense population limiting excavations, little is known about the identities of those who built ancient settlements before European arrival in the 16th century. However, the current find shows that ancient Salvadoran communities were not isolated. "This discovery contradicts the prevailing notion about El Salvador's cultural backwardness or isolation in the ancient times," concluded Szymański. "It reveals the existence of vibrant and far-reaching communities capable of exchanging ideas with remarkably distant places." The research has been published in the journal Antiquity.
