American archaeologists have unearthed the tomb of the first ruler of the ancient Maya city, Caracol, in Belize, a major centre in the Maya Lowlands during the sixth and seventh centuries.
Houston University archaeologists and married couple Arlen F Chase and Diane Z Chase uncovered Caracol’s king, Te K’ab Chaak’s tomb which dates back to 350AD.
He took the reigns and founded the royal dynasty in 331AD.
It is the first time any identifiable royal tomb has been uncovered at Caracol since the couple began excavating the area more than four decades ago.
This season of excavations was in concert with Belize’s Institute of Archaeology and supported by the Alphawood Foundation, Houston University, the Geraldine and Emory Ford Foundation, and the KHR Family Fund.
The archaeologists estimate Te K’ab Chaak was of advanced age and stood approximately 5’7″ at the time of his burial.
A statement from Houston University said the ruler had no remaining teeth.
“(The Chase’s) investigations at Caracol’s Northeast Acropolis show that Te K’ab Chaak’s tomb was the first of three major burials dating to about 350 AD,” the statement said.
Archaeologists Arlen and Diane Chase
HOUSTON UNIVERSITY
“(It was) a time of early contact with the central Mexican city of Teotihuacan, some 1200 kilometers distant. By 300 AD, Teotihuacan was a huge city that traded throughout Central America.”
Diane said the “one question that has perplexed Maya archaeologists since the 1960s” was whether a new political order was introduced to the Maya area by Mexicans from Teotihuacan.
“Maya carved stone monuments, hieroglyphic dates, iconography, and archaeological data all suggest that widespread pan-Mesoamerican connections occurred after an event in 378 AD referred to as ‘entrada’,” Diane said.
“Whether this event represented actual Teotihuacanos in the Maya area or Maya using central Mexican symbols is still debated.”
Diane Chase in the recently excavated tomb
HOUSTON UNIVERSITY
Diane said the Caracol archaeological data suggested that “the situation was far more complicated”.
The metropolis was a major political player in Maya history with the Houston University statement adding it dominated “the southern part of the Yucatan Peninsula from 560 through 680AD.
It was abandoned by 900AD.
