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Archaeologists recently discovered the charred bones of at least four adults, possibly of royal descent, in an ancient Mayan temple pyramid in Guatemala. The cremation signaled a deliberate and potentially public desecration of his remains, new research suggests.
The bones offer a rare glimpse into the deliberate disposal of corpses in Mayan culture to commemorate dramatic political change.
All of the remains belonged to adults, and scientists determined that three of these individuals were males. Two men were between the ages of 21 and 35, and one was between the ages of 40 and 60, researchers reported in the report published Thursday in the journal Antiquity. Among the bones were thousands of burnt objects, whole and in pieces, including body ornaments made of greenstone (green minerals including jade), pendants made of mammal teeth, shell beads, mosaics, and weapons. Their wealth and abundance indicated the royal status of the people in the tomb.
But the burning of artifacts and relics, like their placement in this pyramid chamber, was unusual for the royal family. The study’s authors said this revelation highlights the rise of a new type of leader who is likely redefining power in a time of social transformation.
Ritual of desecration of bones and royal ornaments
In 2022, scientists found burnt bones and grave goods under a jumble of construction materials at the bottom of a chamber beneath a temple. Dr., an associate professor of anthropology at the university. The body was found under large stone blocks, about five feet tall, typically used for façade construction, Christina T. Halperin said. This was an unexpected arrangement for people of royal descent. From Montreal.
Typically, Mayan societies kept royal remains in accessible areas where visitors could make offerings. By comparison, this room “didn’t have all the hallmarks that you would normally have at a royal funeral,” Halperin said. “They just dumped it in this spot. Then they dumped all the construction fill on top of it.”
The shrinkage and warping of the charred, broken bones suggested that they had burned in a massive inferno at temperatures over 1,472 degrees Fahrenheit (800 degrees Celsius). Radiocarbon dating, which analyzes the decay rates of carbon isotopes to determine the age of an object, showed that the burning occurred between 773 and 881 BC. But the analysis also found that people died decades ago; The scientists wrote that the burning of the skeletons probably occurred about a century ago, suggesting that the fire was linked to events that occurred long after their deaths.
D., professor of anthropology and history of art and architecture at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. “This is a fascinating accumulation of charred human remains and valuable objects clearly linked to the royal family,” Stephen Houston told CNN in an email.
“Halperin is one of our most talented field workers,” said Houston, who studies ancient Mayan culture but was not involved in the research. “This paper exemplifies how we should interpret unusual remains,” he added.
Fire illuminated the rise of a ‘foreign’ leader
Researchers discovered the remains in an area called Ucanal, located about 249 miles (400 kilometers) north of Guatemala City. The ancient metropolis was the capital of the Maya kingdom of K’anwitznal, and during Ucanal’s peak between about 630 and 1000, urban settlements covered an area of approximately 26 square kilometers.
When the ruins were burned in the early ninth century, engraved Mayan records described the deeds of a new ruler named Papmalil. According to the research, the name did not appear in earlier carvings and “may be foreign in origin” and traces its roots to Mayan peoples in another region.
Unlike the royals before him, Papmalil’s official title — “ochk’in kaloomte,” or “western overlord” — was associated with military leaders, Halperin said. Significant changes in political alliances, the demolition of old elite monuments and the construction of new public buildings also marked this historical period. The ceremonial burning of the bones of previous rulers may have highlighted the change in leadership, the researchers reported.
The ritual of desecrating royal remains with fire was not unknown in Mayan culture. The Mayans even had a term for this: “och-i k’ak’ tu-muk-il“The fire entered his grave,” the researchers wrote. However, there were no signs of burns in the room where the bones and artifacts were found, suggesting that the burning occurred elsewhere.
“The original graves themselves may have been cremated; It may have been burned in a public plaza area, Halperin said. But wherever ruins were scorched, a fire of this scale would not go unnoticed.
“It was such an extraordinary burning that it had to be known to the public,” he said. The placement of the blackened remains in the great temple pyramid after the fire could possibly have been part of other ceremonies commemorating Papmalil’s rise to power.
Flourishing Mayan society
Finding ancient Mayan evidence that speaks to transformative social change was “really exciting,” Halperin said.
“We know very little about the politics that took place during this period, and so this is an important event that helps us recognize a political transition. Indeed, yes, it emphasizes the collapse of political dynasties. “But there is also a renewal and reworking of a society in different areas of the Mayan world.”
This enigmatic collection of burnt bones and royal artifacts, dumped in a room and covered with building fill, is “beautifully elucidated by practices known from Mayan hieroglyphs and ritual connections to the appearance of a glorified, albeit alien, person in the historical record,” Houston said. . “Further extensive excavations at Ucanal may reveal other fluctuations in this dynastic change, perhaps in the form of burned buildings or rapid changes in artefacts.”
Halperin added that the discovery also provides information about the persistence and continuity of the Mayan culture.
“This helps underscore the fact that Mayan societies did not end when their political systems changed,” he said.
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