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Choked by rainforest and crowded with fallen leaves, palms, and chunks of stone, the little-known site of Chochkitam, Guatemala, seems an unlikely place for a breathtaking archaeological find—much less one that reveals new information about a still murky time period that’s long baffled researchers.
But that’s exactly what researchers recently discovered at the site, in the form of a mysterious, interlocking jade mask believed to have belonged to a previously unknown Maya king.
The find tells a fascinating story of religious devotion and royal succession during the early Classic period of the Maya nearly 1,700 years ago. But it also gives credence to a growing theory that Maya royals of the era may have been in the thrall of even more powerful Mesoamerican dynasties.
“It’s a very controversial subject,” says archaeologist and National Geographic Explorer Francisco Estrada-Belli. “The mask is one more nail in the coffin” of old interpretations of Maya history, he says.
But that’s exactly what researchers recently discovered at the site, in the form of a mysterious, interlocking jade mask believed to have belonged to a previously unknown Maya king.
The find tells a fascinating story of religious devotion and royal succession during the early Classic period of the Maya nearly 1,700 years ago. But it also gives credence to a growing theory that Maya royals of the era may have been in the thrall of even more powerful Mesoamerican dynasties.
“It’s a very controversial subject,” says archaeologist and National Geographic Explorer Francisco Estrada-Belli. “The mask is one more nail in the coffin” of old interpretations of Maya history, he says.
Stunning jade mask found inside the tomb of a mysterious Maya king
National Geographic Explorer Francisco Estrada-Belli’s discovery in Chochkitam, Guatemala, sheds new light on an ancient society.
www.nationalgeographic.com