Ancient Maya kingdom with pyramid discovered in southern Mexico
A drawing (left) and a digital 3D model (right) of a stone slab found at the newly discovered kingdom.
(Image: © Stephen Houston/Brown University; Charles Golden/Brandeis)
After searching for more than a quarter century, archaeologists may have finally located the capital city of Sak Tz'i', a Maya kingdom that's referenced in sculptures and inscriptions from across the ancient Maya world. But it wasn't archaeologists who made the find. A local man discovered a 2- by 4-foot (0.6 by 1.2 meters) tablet near Lacanja Tzeltal, a community in Chiapas, Mexico.
The tablet's inscriptions are a treasure trove of mythology, poetry and history that reflect the typical Maya practice of weaving together myth and reality. Various sections of the tablet contain inscriptions that recount a mythical water serpent, various unnamed gods, a mythic flood and accounts of the births, lives, and battles of ancient rulers, according to a news statement from Brandeis University in Massachusetts.
Sak Tz'i' sat on what's now the border between Mexico and Guatemala, and it probably wasn't an especially powerful kingdom, Charles Golden, an associate professor of anthropology at Brandeis University, said in the statement.
Related: In photos: Hidden Maya civilization
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