Archeologists have uncovered a 1,600-year-old Mayan temple dedicated to the “night sun” atop a pyramid tomb in the northern Guatemalan forest near the border with Mexico.
“The sun was a key element of Maya rulership,” lead archeologist Stephen Houston explained in announcing the discovery by the joint Guatemalan and American team that has been excavating the El Zotz site since 2006.
“It’s something that rises every day and penetrates into all nooks and crannies, just as royal power presumably would,” said Houston, a professor at Brown University, Rhode Island.
Archaeologists say the temple was likely built to honour the leader buried under the Diablo Pyramid tomb, the governor and founder of the first El Zotz dynasty called Pa’Chan, or ‘fortified sky’.
Mayan civilisation, which spread through southern Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Belize, was at its height between 250 and 900 AD.
Excavations by the Guatemalan and American team began at the El Zotzdig in 2006, but the temple wasn’t uncovered until three years ago.
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Joined: Thu Apr 08, 2010 11:21 pm Location: Chillin with Buckaroo Banzai in the 8th dimension You might like: Fri Jul 20, 2012 9:40 am ” by Cageyone23 Ancient Mayan ‘night sun’ temple found in Guatemala Agen e France-Presse Archaeologist Edwin Roman posing in front of a bas-relief depicting the ‘Night Sun’ found under a pyramid at the Zotz…
