Latest news with #Mesoamerica
The Sun
11-07-2025
- Science
- The Sun
Lost tomb & body of ancient 1,700-year-old king buried with chilling death mask uncovered in Mayan temple
ARCHAEOLOGISTS have uncovered the 1,700-year-old tomb of the earliest known ruler of the ancient Maya city of Caracol. The tomb of Te K'ab Chaak, who once ruled over what is now modern-day Belize, was filled with a trove of ancient burial items. 5 5 5 A number of impressive objects, including 11 pottery vessels, jadeite jewellery, a mosaic jadeite mask and Pacific spondylus shells, were found at the burial site, which dates back to around 350 AD. As is typical for Maya funerary masks, the one found - though broken - was made by fitting together small pieces of jadeite, a precious green stone, into a mosaic pattern. The discovery of Te K'ab Chaak's tomb provides new insights into the origins of Maya dynastic rule and early regional interactions in Mesoamerica. After more than four decades of excavation, married archaeologists Arlen F. Chase and Diane Z. Chase from the University of Houston made a breakthrough. This marks the first time a Caracol king has been identified. Te K'ab Chaak became ruler in around 331 AD, founding the royal dynasty of Caracol - a major Maya metropolis until its abandonment by 900 AD. The Chases believe that Te K'ab Chaak was of advanced age at the time of his death. He stood around 5 feet 7 inches tall, according to their estimations. Te K'ab Chaak's tomb was located at the base of a royal family shrine. Archaeologists uncovered a cremation burial containing the remains of three individuals, dating to around 350 AD. LOST AT SEA Inside sunken ancient Egyptian city known as 'Venice of the Nile' with incredible temples that drowned 1,200 years ago The tomb also held items from central Mexico, including knives, obsidian blades and atlatl points. The discovery comes just over a month after an ancient Mayan city was discovered by archaeologists in northern Guatemala. The nearly 3,000-year-old remains include remarkable pyramids and monuments that appear to be "sculpted with unique iconography". This ancient city, named Los Abuelos - the Spanish for "The Grandparents" - once stood around 13 miles from the significant archaeological site of Uaxactún, according to Guatemala's culture ministry. 5 5 Los Abuelos gets its name from two human-like sculptures of an "ancestral couple" found there. These figures "could be linked to ancient ritual practices of ancestor worship", the ministry added. The city is likely to have been "one of the most ancient and important ceremonial centres" of Mayan civilisation. Meanwhile, another ancient Mayan city was discovered deep inside a dense jungle within the Balamkú ecological reserve in the Mexican state of Campeche. Named Ocomtún - which means "stone column" in Yucatec Maya - the city was hailed as a "monumental" discovery by Mexican authorities in 2023. The settlement dates from roughly 250 AD and 1000 AD. Ocomtún boasts remains of several massive pyramid-like structures, three plazas with "imposing buildings", numerous stone columns and other cylindrical structures. One pyramid is estimated to have stood as tall as 82 feet, towering over the surrounding jungle. Who were the ancient Maya? THE Maya were an ancient, indigenous Mesoamerican civilisation that inhabited present-day Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and El Salvador. Flourishing for over two millennia - from around 2000 BC until the Spanish conquest in the 16th century AD - they developed one of the most sophisticated cultures in the ancient Americas. The Maya are celebrated for their achievements in architecture, mathematics, astronomy, art and writing. They built vast cities with tall step pyramids and palaces and also created intricate jadeite masks and objects. Their writing system, known as Maya hieroglyphs, was one of the most complex in the pre-Columbian Americas, used to record historical events, religious texts and royal genealogies. Maya mathematicians independently developed the concept of zero and used an advanced vigesimal system. This enabled them to produce highly accurate calendars. The Maya were conquered and destroyed by the Spanish invaders in around 1600 AD. But millions of Maya people still live today, preserving their languages and traditions.
New York Times
10-07-2025
- Science
- New York Times
Maya Ruler's Tomb Is Unearthed in Belize, With Clues to His Ancient World
The archaeologists worked in the shadow of towering Maya ruins, piercing the floor of a structure they had searched years before. Below, they found an even more ancient chamber, still holding a body and the treasures it was buried with: a rare mosaic death mask and jadeite jewelry, shells from the Pacific and elaborate designs on pottery and bone. It was the 1,700-year-old tomb of a Maya ruler — the first ever found at Caracol, the largest Maya site in Belize — and it held clues to a Mesoamerican world where cities contended with one another from hundreds of miles apart. 'They've found a very early ruler, so that's very important, and he's claimed to be the founder of a dynasty,' said Gary Feinman, an archaeologist at Field Museum of Chicago who was not involved in the excavation. 'That's a major find.' Arlen Chase, one of the archaeologists working at Caracol, was among the first to enter the tomb. 'As soon as we saw the chamber, we knew we had something,' he said. From the style of ceramic vessels, he knew the tomb was exceptionally old. From the red cinnabar all around, he knew it was for someone of very high status. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Ancient Maya quiz: What do you know about the civilization that built pyramids across Mesoamerica?
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The ancient Maya civilization stretched throughout Central America and lasted for nearly three millennia. Although never unified into one massive empire, the Maya controlled dozens of city-states, also known as "polities," which arose when people settled in permanent villages and began to cultivate maize. The ancient Maya are well known for their pyramids and for their series of calendars — one of which convinced many people that the world would end in an apocalypse on Dec. 21, 2012. While the ancient political system collapsed between A.D. 800 and 1000, the society did not. Today, more than 7 million Maya live in their original homelands and beyond. Are you up to date on recent research on the ancient Maya? Take our quiz to find out. Remember to log in to put your name on the leaderboard; hints are available if you click the yellow button! Ancient Egypt quiz: Test your smarts about pyramids, hieroglyphs and King Tut Viking quiz: How much do you know about these seaborne raiders, traders and explorers? Pompeii quiz: How much do you know about the Roman town destroyed by Mount Vesuvius?
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
US scientists make rubber 10 times tougher, 4x more crack-resistant under repeated stress
Materials scientists in the U.S. have just given natural rubber a major upgrade by developing a method to make it stronger and significantly more resistant to cracking, without compromising its signature stretchiness, even after repeated cycles of use. Led by Zhigang Suo, an Allen E. and Marilyn M. Puckett professor of mechanics at materials at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), the study explored crack growth, one of rubber's most persistent weaknesses. According to Suo and his team, while natural rubber has been used for millennia, initially by the indigenous cultures of Mesoamerica, its ability to resist cracking, particularly under repeated stress, has remained largely unimproved. "Improving crack resistance will extend the material's service lifetime and therefore improve its sustainability," Guodong Nian, PhD, a former SEAS postdoctoral researcher and first author of the study. Native to the Amazon basin and sourced from the milky latex of the Hevea tree (Hevea brasiliensis), natural rubber is a durable polymer used in everything from gloves and tires to medical devices, shoes, and conveyor belts. But the research team has now found a way to modify its traditional high-intensity vulcanization process, which usually creates short polymer chains within the material that are densely crosslinked, or chemically bonded. This, according to the team, resulted in a novel type of rubber, which they called tanglemer. Filled with long, entangled polymer strands resembling a bowl of spaghetti, the new rubber reportedly boosts durability by absorbing and distributing stress more efficiently. "We used a low-intensity processing method, based on latex processing methods, that preserved the long polymer chains," Nian explained. According to the scientists the new material is four times more resistant to slow crack growth under repeated stretching, and 10 times stronger overall. This, according to the scientists, is because when a crack forms in it, the long spaghetti strands spread out the stress by sliding past each other, allowing more rubber to crystallize as it stretches, ultimately making the material more resilient. "We imagined that the properties would be enhanced maybe twice or three times, but actually they were enhanced by one order of magnitude," Chen concluded in a press release, adding that the key to the discovery lies in replacing the dominance of chemical crosslinks. Yet, while the research highlights the benefits of preserving long polymer chains, challenges remain as the process requires significant water evaporation, limiting material yield and making it less suitable for larger products such as tires. This currently makes it less suitable for bulky applications like tires, but better suited for thin rubber products such as gloves, condoms, or other items that require flexibility without large material volume. According to the researchers, the new process also opens up possibilities for applications like flexible electronics and components for soft robotics. The study was supported by the National Science Foundation's Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers (DMR-2011754) and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. It has been published in the journal Nature Sustainability.
CNN
23-05-2025
- CNN
At least 12 injured in hot air balloon crash in Mexico
At least twelve people were injured in a hot air balloon crash near an archaeological site near Mexico City on Friday, local authorities said. The balloon undertook a 'forced landing' in San Martin de las Pirámides after hitting an air pocket, according to a statement from the civil protection agency for the state of Mexico. The twelve people who were aboard are being treated for injuries at a local clinic, the statement said. Images shared by authorities and geolocated by CNN show that the crash occurred a short distance from the Pyramid of the Moon, a popular tourist site in the ancient city of Teotihuacan. The balloon lay draped over fencing and power lines along Tuxpan Avenue, a two-lane road just over a thousand feet from the base of the pyramid. The civil protection agency added that the balloon was operated by a tour company that offers hot air balloon rides to view the pyramids from above. When CNN called the number listed on the company's website, the representative would not comment on the incident. The Attorney General's Office for the state of Mexico reported that they are investigating a 29-year-old man whom police detained. According to the Mexican government, Teotihuacan was once one of the largest cities in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, and the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon form the twin centers of the ancient ruins there. Balloon rides around the pyramids are popular among tourists visiting Mexico, according to a government tourism website. This is a developing story and will be updated.
