Discovered almost 3,000 year old Maya site in Guatemala

In the north of Guatemala, archaeologists have discovered a Maya site around 2,900 years old. The researchers gave the place the name « Los Abuelos » (the grandparents), as two anthropomorphic stone sculptures were found there, which were probably devoted to the cult of the ancestors, as team leader Milan Kováč said. In the excavations, an observatory, pyramids, altars, stelen fragments and ceramics also appeared.

The place discovered in the rainforest extends over around 16 square kilometers near the Uaxactún site in the province of Petén. The UNESCO World Heritage Site Tikal, one of the most important cultural centers of Maya civilization, is only around 40 kilometers south of « Los Abuelos ».

Abandoned and used again later

The place now discovered is said to have been one of the most important ritual centers in the region, as team leader Kováč said in a press conference in Guatemala City. The stone figures found there, who are supposed to represent a man and a woman as a couple, date from 600 to 400 BC.

The seated sculptures are around one and a half meters high. At her feet, ceramics were found that were obviously broken. The place, which the discoverers described as a small temple, is said to have been used for ritual purposes for around 1,000 years and then abandoned until it was used by later residents around 800 AD.

The team of archaeologists from Slovakia and Guatemala also made finds in two other nearby places, Petnal and Cambrayal. In Petnal, which was probably a former political center of the Maya, a 33 meter high pyramid was found – the largest in the area examined so far.