Tag: Mesoamerican

Teotihuacan Tunnel found under Temple of Quetzalcoatl, the Feathered Serpent

3D image tunnel entrance temple of the feathered serpend Archaeologists have discovered a 1,800 year old tunnel that leads to a system of galleries 12 meters below Teotihuacan’s Temple of Quetzalcoatl, the Feathered Serpent, in Mexico.

Spanning an area of more than 83 square kilometres, Teotihuacan is one of the largest archaeological sites in Mexico and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city had nearly 250,000 inhabitants when it was at its height in the early 1st millennium AD. It also contains some of the largest pre-Columbian pyramids in the New World.

Archaeologists hope that the galleries they detected are actually the tombs of Teotihuacans rulers. “For a long time local and foreign archaeologists have attempted to locate the graves of the ancient city’s rulers, but the search has been fruitless, said project director Sergio Chaves Gomez. “That’s why every day our expectations are increasing, as there are many chances that they are sitting inside a large tomb or offering.

As early as 2003 archaeologists suspected the tunnel was there after a rainstorm caused the ground to sink at the Temple of Quetzalcoatl, also known as the Feathered Serpent Pyramid. It took archaeologists Gomez and Julie Gazzola several years to plan the excavations and raise the necessary funds. They began work last year and discovered the entrance to the tunnel a few weeks ago.

several indications suggest that access to the underground passage was closed between 200 and 250 AD, probably after depositing something inside

Before the start of the excavations, a systematic survey of the tunnel was made. Ground penetrating radar or GPR and laser scanning were used to generate a 3D image of the archaeological site, allowing researchers to estimate the length of the tunnel, and to confirm the presence of the rock-cut chambers.

The tunnel is accessed by a vertical shaft of almost 5 by 5 metres wide and runs 14 metres deep, which gives access to a corridor nearly 100 metres long ending in a series of rock-cut galleries which may be the tombs of Teotihuacan’s rulers.

The entrance to the underground passage which runs under the Temple of the Feathered Serpent, the most important building of Teotihuacan’s Citadel is located only a few metres away from the temple itself .

A small opening was made and the scanner captured the first images. Angel Mora, from the CNMH Technological Support Unit, and engineer Juan Carlos Garcia, scanner operator, mentioned that when introducing the laser only a 37-meter length was registered for the tunnel. According to Mora, this indicates that the beam bumped into something, maybe rocks, a landside, or a change of level.

The entrance to the 12 metres deep ancient tunnel, and Sergio Gomez in front of the excavation area, where he hopes to open a 1800-year-old burial chamber. Photos by Flickr user DerMikelele.

Although the archaeologists still have two metres to dig before they reach the tunnel’s floor, the images will help them plan how to enter the tunnel. So far, about 200 tons of soil and debris have been removed from the tunnel and nearly 60,000 fragments of artifacts have been recovered.

Specialists of Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) plan to enter the tunnel in about 2 months time, when the vertical shaft is fully excavated. Then, they’ll start scanning the tunnel, which leads away east from the entrance.

The complete process might take another 2 months of work, we must continue exploration the same way done so far, to avoid losing important information that will allow us knowing activities conducted there by Teotihuacan people hundreds of years ago and why they decided to close it, mentioned Gomez Chavez.

Why was the tunnel closed?

It is not known why or when exactly the tunnel was closed. Yet, the excavation of the shaft has already offered some clues, says Gomez. He adds, “several indications suggest that access to the underground passage was closed between 200 and 250 AD, probably after depositing something inside.

The archaeologists now know for certain that the tunnel already existed when the Citadel and the Temple of the Feathered Serpent were constructed. When the tunnel was closed, large stones were thrown in to block its access. It is thought this happened around the same date of a large structure because of its shape thought to be a ball court.

Let’s hope Mr Gomez hasbetter luck than Dr Hawass when reaching the end of the tunnel of Seti I? As so far, no ‘royal remains’ have been found at Teotihuacan,the discovery of some kind of King (albeitlong time deceased)wouldmake foran amazing discovery.

Underwater Archaeology: Diving the Maya Underworld

Videographer Marty O'Farrell captures divers taking a core sample from the bottom of pool 6. Steering clear of crocodiles and navigating around massive submerged trees, a team of divers started mapping some of the 25 freshwater pools of Cara Blanca, Belize, which were of importance to the ancient Maya civilisation.

So far, the divers found fossilized animal remains, bits of pottery and in the largest pool explored an enormous underwater cave.

The underwater archaeology project, led by University of Illinois anthropology professor Lisa Lucero, was the first of what the professor hopes will be a series of dives into the pools of the southern Maya lowlands in central Belize.

The divers so far have explored eight of the 25 known pools of Cara Blanca, with the volunteer divers returning this summer to assess whether archaeological excavation is even possible at the bottom of the pools, some of which are more than 60 meters deep.

They could have been making offerings to the rain god and other supernatural forces to bring an end to the drought

“We don’t know if it’s going to be feasible to conduct archaeology 200 feet below the surface,” Lucero said. “But they are going to try.”

After three weeks of surveying(see this slideshowon the University’s website), Maya structures have been found near two of the eight pools.

“The pools with the most substantial and most obvious settlement at the edge also turn out to be the deepest that we know,” Lucero said.

No vessels other than water jars were found in the structures built near the pools.

The use of these pools at the end of the Late Classic period (roughly 800-900AD) corresponds to an enduring drought that deforested parts of Central America and some believe ultimately drove the Maya from the area.

University of Illinois anthropology professor Lisa Lucero, who led the expedition, surveys Pool 1, the deepest of the pools her team explored. The need for fresh water could have drawn the Maya to the pools.

“They could have been making offerings to the rain god and other supernatural forces to bring an end to the drought,” Lucero said.

The chemistry of the water in each of the pools is distinct and the water in Pool 1, containing the submerged cave and a Maya structure at its edge, held the freshest water of the pools surveyed.

Yet the water contained a lot of soluble minerals,problematic for anyone who used it as their primary water supply. Those who drank the water over an extended period would have been at risk of developing kidney stones,Lucero explained.

The divers also extracted core samples of the sediment at the bottoms of two of the pools. Analysis of the soil, debris and pollen in the cores isexpected to offer insight into the pool’s natural history and their surrounding region.

The Maya believed that all land was covered bywater in ancient times.An understanding possibly inspired byfossils, which served as proof that land was once covered by the sea.

‘The surface of the earth had not appeared. There was only the calm sea and the great expanse of the sky,‘ reads the Popol Vuh creation myth.

It is only when the gods ordered the water to retire, and land emerged, that the actual era began.

Thus, tothe Mayans, openings in the earth, including caves and water-filled sinkholes called cenotes from the Maya word for ‘well’represented portals to the underworld, and they often left offerings there.

Ceremonial artefacts of the Maya have been found in pools and lakes in Mexico, but not yet in Belize.

Maya Royal Tomb Found Beneath El Diablo Pyramid

Mayan Treasure from the burial beneath the El Diablo pyramid, Guatamale - Image credit Arturo Godoy Archaeologists excavating in the Guatamalanjunglehave discovered a royal tomb, filled with colourful 1,600-year-old Mayan artefacts, beneath the El Diablo pyramid. The well preserved tombis packed with carvings, ceramics, textiles, and the bones of six children, possibly the remains of a human sacrifice.

The archaeological team, led by Stephen Houston, professor of anthropology at Brown University, uncovered the tomb beneath the El Diablo pyramid in the city of El Zots, Guatamalain May. Last week, the discovery of the tomb, dated to between 350 and 400AD, was made public.

Houston said the first pointer to the discovery was something odd in the deposit the team was digging, at a small temple built in front of a sprawling structure dedicated to the sun god, an emblem of Maya rulership.

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.

The tomb itself is about 6 feet high, 12 feet long, and four feet wide. I can lie down comfortably in it, Houston said, although I wouldnt want to stay there.

Then, on May 29th 2010, Houston was with a worker who came to a final earthen layer.

I told him to remove it, and then, a flat stone. Wed been using a small stick to probe for cavities. And, on this try, the stick went in, and in, and in. After chipping away at the stone, I saw nothing but a small hole leading into darkness.

They lowered a bare light bulb into the hole, and suddenly Houston saw an explosion of color in all directions – reds, greens, yellows. It was a royal tomb filled with organics Houston says hed never seen before: pieces of wood, textiles, thin layers of painted stucco and cord.

When we opened the tomb, 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 dig’s director said. The chamber had been so well sealed, for over 1600 years, that no air and little water had entered.

artefact from the discovery of mayan royal tomb at el diablo pyramid, el zotz The tomb itself is about 6 feet high, 12 feet long, and four feet wide. I can lie down comfortably in it, Houston said, although I wouldnt want to stay there.

It appears the tomb held an adult male, who was between 50 and 60 he died from natural causes, but the team’s bone analyst, Andrew Scherer, assistant professor of anthropology at Brown, has not yet confirmed the finding.

And who was this man buried with such a wealth? Though the findings are still very new, the group believes the tomb is likely from aruler they only know about from hieroglyphic texts.

These items are artistic riches, extraordinarily preserved from a key time in Maya history, said Houston. From the tombs position, time, richness, and repeated constructions atop the tomb, we believe this is very likely the founder of a dynasty.

According to Houston, the tomb shows that the ruler is going into the tomb as a ritual dancer: He has all the attributes of this role, including many small bells of Spondylus shell with, probably, dog canines as clappers. There is a chance too, that his body, which rested on a raised bier that collapsed to the floor, had an elaborate headdress with small glyphs on them. One of his hands may have held a sacrificial blade.

The blade was probably used for cutting and grinding through bone or some other hard material, and its surface seems to be covered with red organic residue. Though the substance still needs to be tested, it doesnt take too much imagination to think that this is blood, Houston said.

So far, it seems likely that there are six children in the tomb, some with whole bodies and probably two solely with skulls. The children – ranging in age from 1to 5 – were “probably sacrificed”in honour of the ruler.

We still have a great deal of work to do, Houston said. Remember, weve only been out of the field for a few weeks and were still catching our breath after a very difficult, technical excavation. Royal tombs are hugely dense with information and require years of study to understand. No other deposits come close.

The ancient Maya kingdom of El Zotz is located within a day’s walk (about 20kms) from Tikal, the capital of one of the largest and most powerful kingdoms of the ancient Maya.Yet, El Zotzflourished in the midst of the 1st millennium AD- after Tikal was defeated by Caracol (Belize) and Calakmul (Mexico).It is likely thatEl Zotz allied with Tikal’s enemies and that relations between the two cities were hostile. According to a textfound atTikal, in the 8th century AD,El Zotz wasengaged in battle against Tikal, and the last known hieroglyphic inscription to refer to El Zotz describes the city as being the target of an attack by Tikal.