16 February 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

A Stunning Jade mask discovered in tomb of Maya King in Guatemala

Archaeologists excavating a looted pyramid tomb in the ruins of a Mayan city in Peten, northeast Guatemala, have discovered a mysterious interlocking jade mask believed to have belonged to a previously unknown Mayan king.

Chochkitam, a little-known archaeological site, is located near the Peten Basin, a subregion of the Maya Lowlands in northwest Guatemala. The area is considered the heartland of the Maya Classic Period, which lasted from 200 to 900 AD. The site was first reported in 1909, and ongoing studies have revealed three major monumental groups linked by a long central causeway.

In ancient times, the value of jade went far beyond its material value. Mayans considered it a protector of generations, living and dead. For this reason,  jade masks were generally used to symbolize deities or ancestors, and were used to reflect the affluence and influence of the entombed individuals.

Archaeologists discovered that grave robbers had excavated a tunnel into a royal pyramid’s core following a LiDAR survey in 2021. Further inspection revealed that the intruders had overlooked a specific area within the pyramid’s inner chamber.

A human skull, and bones, some of them carved with hieroglyphs, a coffin-shaped stone box, ceramic artifacts, and funerary offerings including a pot, oyster shells, and multiple jade pieces that fit together to create a jade mask were found as a result of this oversight.

 Photo: Facebook / University of Alabama, Department of Anthropology
Photo: Facebook / University of Alabama, Department of Anthropology

The name Itzam Kokaj Bahlam is spelled out in carvings and hieroglyphs on some of the bone fragments. The researchers surmise that this name may belong to the buried Maya king who ruled Chochkitam approximately 350 AD. The most fascinating feature of all is that a carving on one of the bones shows the ruler clutching the head of a Maya deity, precisely like the assembled jade mask.

All the artifacts and bones discovered in the Chochkitam tomb were brought to the Holmul Archaeological Project (HAP) lab for cleaning and field analysis.

It was there that archaeologists put together the single blocks of jade that they had unearthed, and they were able to reconstruct an entire jade mosaic mask.

Lead archaeologist Francisco Estrada-Belli of Tulane University and his team discovered the burial using LIDAR mapping technology, according to an extensive article in National Geographic. The mask represents a manifestation of the Storm God worshiped by the Mayans.

Cover Photo: The discovery of a jade mask in a tomb in Guatemala might be evidence of a royal burial. Photo: Facebook / University of Alabama, Department of Anthropology

Related Articles

3,000-year-old Drill Bit Workshop Unearthed in Vietnam’s

13 May 2021

13 May 2021

According to the provincial museum, an ancient drill bit workshop dating back more than 3,000 years has been discovered at...

Artifacts found in Japan could be prototypes of ninja weapons

14 January 2022

14 January 2022

Artifacts discovered in the ruins of structures associated with warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s 1590 Siege of Odawara may be prototypes of...

Early Iron Age cremation burial containing bronze jewelry and rare textile fragments found in Austria

9 July 2023

9 July 2023

Archeologists from the Vienna Natural History Museum (NHM), a cremation burial containing bronze jewelry and rare surviving textile fragments have...

Excavations at the ‘Westminster Abbey of Wales’ Yielded a Few Surprises: a lost Aqueduct and a Buried Celtic Treasure

12 March 2024

12 March 2024

Archaeologists working in Wales revealed recently they may have discovered a Celtic monastery at the site of a 12th-century Cistercian...

Metal Detectorist Finds on 4,000-year-old Dagger in Poland Forests

24 February 2024

24 February 2024

A copper dagger more than 4,000 years old was found in a forest near the town of Jarosław on the...

Evidence found of Goose domestication in Neolithic China 7,000 years ago

8 March 2022

8 March 2022

Geese may have been domesticated in what is now China as early as 7,000 years ago, according to a study...

Tomb of an Urartian buried with his dog, cattle, sheep, and 4 horses unearthed

6 September 2021

6 September 2021

In ancient times, the dead were buried with their living and non-living things. The offerings placed as dead gifts varied...

8,500-year-old marble statuette found in Çatalhöyük

28 December 2021

28 December 2021

In the 29th season of the excavations in Çatalhöyük, one of the first urbanization models in Anatolia, in the Çumra...

2000-year-old tomb guarded by two bull heads found in Tharsa Ancient City, Türkiye

18 May 2024

18 May 2024

In Türkiye, archaeologists have discovered a new 2000-year-old tomb protected by two bull heads during excavation and cleaning efforts in...

A painted Wooden Saddle Discovered in an Ancient Tomb in Mongolia Represents Earliest Evidence of Modern Horse Riding

13 December 2023

13 December 2023

Researchers unearthed a wooden saddle framed with iron stirrups in a tomb in Urd Ulaan Uneet, popularly known as the...

The earliest Buddha statues in China found in northwestern Shaanxi

10 December 2021

10 December 2021

The two copper-tin-lead alloy Buddha statues discovered in northwestern Shaanxi Province became the earliest Buddha statues of this kind unearthed...

A 42,000-year-old pendant found in northern Mongolia may be the earliest known phallic art

20 June 2023

20 June 2023

An international team of researchers has found a pendant in northern Mongolia that may be the earliest known example of...

Beer remains that are 9,000 years old have been discovered in China’s unique Hu pots

3 September 2021

3 September 2021

Archaeologists in southeast China have discovered evidence of beer consumption in ceramic vessels at the burial site called Qiaotou. The...

Archaeologists find 4 Umayyad epigraphs in the ancient city Knidos

24 May 2022

24 May 2022

Archaeological excavations in the ancient city of Knidos connected to Datça District of Muğla province in western Turkey have unearthed...

Archaeologists say 12,000-year-old flutes discovered in northern Israel may have been used to lure falcons

9 June 2023

9 June 2023

New research reveals that about 12,000 years ago, in northern Israel, humans turned the bones of small birds into instruments...