August 17, 2014

Two Large Maya Sites Uncovered in Campeche

A Slovenian team has uncovered two large Maya sites in Campeche. One of the sites had been located in the 1970’s and was then lost, until this new expedition. The sites are called Lagunita and Tamchen. These sites are in a vast unexplored territory in the central lowlands between the Rio Bec and Chenes regions. Lagunita has a ball court and a temple pyramid and massive palaces around four major plazas. There is a huge monster-mouth doorway representing fertility and the earth. 10 stela and three altars with well preserved reliefs with hieroglyphs are present. Stela 2 has the date 711 CE. Tamchen is 4 miles to the north, also with large monuments. It was settled at 300 BCE-250 CE. The number of inscriptions found at the sites are rare for the Rio Bec region. Both sites were abandoned in 1000 CE. But there are post-classic remains. There are many artistic peculiarities at these sites. INAH is working with the Slovenian team. This is a very major find in the Maya realm.
The Slovenian journal Misli has the report here with photos and videos;
http://ms.sta.si/2014/08/two-ancient-maya-cities-discovered-in-the-jungle-of-southeastern-mexico/