The archaeological site of Chavin de Huantar, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site, is seen some 155 miles (250 km) north of Lima July 18, 2008. A museum opened near the site with an exhibition of ceramic pieces and rock sculptures from a culture that flourished around 900 B.C. REUTERS/Enrique Castro-Mendivil (PERU)/File Photo
ANCASH, Peru, July 12 (Reuters) - Archaeologists working in Peru have uncovered a 3,000-year-old sealed corridor dubbed "the condor's passageway" that likely leads to other chambers inside what was once a massive temple complex pertaining to the ancient Chavin culture.
Located around 190 miles (306 km) northeast of Lima, the Chavin de Huantar archeological site is among the culture's most important centers, thriving from around 1,500-550 B.C.
The Chavin are well-known for their advanced art, often featuring depictions of birds and felines. They date back to the first sedentary farming communities in the northern highlands of the Peruvian Andes, more than 2,000 years before the Inca Empire rose to power.
The latest Chavin discoveries focus on a hallway inside a southern portion of the temple that was sealed due to what archaeologists believe was its structural weakness, but that now offers a glimpse into the earliest days of the Chavin.
"What we have here has been frozen in time," lead archeologist John Rick told Reuters.
A large ceramic piece weighing some 37 pounds (17 kg) decorated with what appears to be a condor's head and wings has been found in the passageway, along with a ceramic bowl, both unearthed in May 2022 when the entrance was uncovered.
The condor, one of the largest birds in the world, was associated with power and prosperity in ancient Andean cultures.
The temple complex features terraces as well as a network of passageways, which have only recently been discovered.
Rick, a Stanford University archeologist, has said much of the temple complex remains to be excavated.
The entrance to the "condor's passageway" was first explored by Rick's team using cameras mounted on robots, seeking to negotiate the debris that once filled it as well as avoiding the risk of further collapse of the ancient architecture.
The United Nations' educational, scientific and cultural arm UNESCO declared Chavin de Huantar a world heritage site in 1985.
“We are looking at a gallery that originally belonged to the early Chavin culture, modified during the early Chavin period, and used until the mid-Chavin period. Later, due to instability within this space, they permanently closed it. So, it is frozen in time.”
New Discovery And Museum At Chichén Itzá Will Give Visitors A Whole New Experience
Posted on Published:April 17, 2023
Last Updated4 months ago
Already Mexico’smost visited cultural tourismsite, Chichén Itzá, continues to develop new ways to improve visitors’ experience.
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The Chichén Itzá Archaeological Zone is constructing anew museumto showcase ancient artifacts to tourists who wish to understand Mayan culture and history better.
The new museum, called “Chichén Viejo,” will display more than 800 historical artifacts never seen by the public.
Although they have not announced when the museum will open, tourists can expect to visit soon. Construction of the museum is already 75% complete.
Even now, the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) and the Mexican Secretariat of Culture conduct anthropological excavations at Chichén Itzá.
According to INAH, they have discovered over 4,000 artifacts, some of which they hope to display at the museum.
The Ball Player’s Disc
Historians are particularly excited about one artifact discovered recently by INAH.
The“Ball Player’s Disc”was recently discovered by the archaeologist Lizbeth Beatriz Mendicuti Pérez in Chichén Itzá’s “Red House.”
The disc has a diameter of 1 foot and weighs almost 90 pounds. Etched into it are hieroglyphs that surround two figures that archaeologists believe to be playing the Mayan ball game.
The hieroglyphs on the disc make this find important to archaeologists.
“At this Mayan site, it is rare to find hieroglyphic writing, let alone a complete text,” said Francisco Pérez, an archaeologist working on the project.
He said it had been over 11 years since they discovered an artifact of this importance.
Archaeologists believe the Mayans used the disc as a marker on the ball game court.
The Ball Game
The ball game was an iconic part of prehispanic civilization in Mesoamerica, and the ball game court remains one of the top attractions at Chichén Itzá.
Archaeologists still do not entirely understand the meaning of the ball game or how it was played.
Mayans played the game using their hips and legs to move a ball through a 225-by-545-foot court, but the exact rules are unknown.
Many archaeologists believe the Mayans placed significant spiritual meaning on the ball game.
According to them, the teams facing each other represented light and dark forces. Playing the game was an act of renewal and revitalization.
Light And Darkness
Archaeologists and historians theorize that Mayan religion and culture emphasized the duality of light and darkness.
The Pyramid of Kukulkan, the most recognizable structure in Chichén Itzá, is home to another example of this duality.
A magical light show called the “snake of light” appears on the pyramid yearly at the spring and fall equinoxes.
The reflection of the sun and the shadow caused by the pyramid’s steps combine twice a year to create shifting triangular patterns, creating the effect of a snake slithering down the structure.
Historians theorize the snake represented the fertilization of the Mayab, or “land of the few and the privileged.”
Less known is the other half of the duality, “the lunar snake.”
Like the snake of light, the lunar snake is an illusion created by the architecture of the Pyramid of Kukulkan.
Weeks after the snake of light makes its way down the pyramid’s steps, the lunar snake follows its path using moonlight rather than sunlight.
Soon, tourists will be able to experience the lunar snake for themselves.
Marco Antonio Santos Rodriguez, Director of Chichén Itzá Archaeological Zone, recently announced that he wouldopen the park for the lunar snake.
He said, “the carrying capacity of these places is reduced, but tourists should be able to access it, perhaps with a prior reservation.”
Santos Rodriguez is eager to follow through on several ambitious plans for the archaeological zone.
In addition to the new museum and lunar snake projects, the director plans to reopen the park at sunrise and sunset.
He thinks these new initiatives will give tourists a comprehensive view of Mayan life and help them “remember that people lived in this city day and night.”
The LiDAR scan of the ancient Mayan site. Photo: National Institute of Anthropology and History
Archaeologists have discovered an ancient Mayan city in the jungles of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. No one knew of the city’s existence, and there had been no previous records of it. Hidden in dense foliage, it had never appeared on a map or in any satellite imagery.
They first detected it using LiDAR scans, an effective new tool for modern archaeologists. Lasers fire hundreds of thousands of bursts per second toward the ground. These reflect off surfaces, giving detailed maps of the topography and any ancient structures hidden within the forest.
Amazed researchers said that it was highly unusual to find a site of this size that no one had heard about before.
The team trekked 60km into the jungle to reach the Mayan city. Among the remains, the city featured a clear center on a section of high ground, surrounded by wetlands.
“Its monumental nucleus covers more than 50 hectares and has various large buildings, including several pyramidal structures over 15m high,” said archaeologist Ivan Sprajc.
Ruins of an Ocomtún building with a staircase. Photo: Ivan Sprajc/National Institute of Anthropology and History
1,000 to 1,800 years old
The site consists of three stone plazas, pyramids, and a number of stone columns. The large city may have been an important hub for the Mayan civilization. Dating between 250 and 1000 AD, many of the buildings are arranged in concentric circles. The abundant columns at the site prompted researchers to call the city Ocomtún, which means “stone column” in the Mayan language.
By examining materials from the buildings and other artifacts, researchers hope to narrow the era in which people lived in Ocomtún.
The community includes the remains of a ball court. Ball games were popular in Mayan culture. Players would strike a rubber ball, which represented the sun, across the court without using their hands. The aim was to get it through a stone hoop. Historians think that the game had a religious purpose.
The team found numerous altars near a river that may have served in religious ceremonies.
Part of a stone column. Photo: Ivan Šprajc/National Institute of Anthropology and History
Not an easy place to get to
Ocomtún sits in the Balamku ecological reserve, which is relatively unexplored since it is not an area one can simply walk through. This discovery forms part of a much larger project aiming to expand knowledge of the area’s history. Political anthropologist Simon Martin toldThe New York Times, “These stories about ‘lost cities in the jungle’ — very often these things are quite minor or being spun by journalists. But this is much closer to the real deal.”
The Mayan civilization was prominent across Mesoamerica. There are multiple well-known sites across Mexico and Central America, including Chichén Itzá. The Mayans are most often remembered for creating the only writing system in pre-Columbian America. They also made advances in architecture and mathematics and had an elaborate calendar system.
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