San Bartolo (Maya site)

San Bartolo is a pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site located in the Department of Petén in northern Guatemala, northeast of Tikal and roughly 50 miles from the nearest settlement. [http://www.hno.harvard.edu/gazette/2002/03.21/01-mayan.html Harvard Gazette: Oldest Mayan mural found by Peabody researcher ] ]

The Maya site includes an 85-foot pyramid named "Las Ventanas" (The windows), the Temple of "Las Pinturas" (The paintings), and an early royal tomb in the "Tigrillo Complex" (Ocelot Complex), and in the "Jabalí" (Wild Boar) group some 500 mt. to the east, from the central Plaza a triadic complex similar to the H group in Uaxactún and Tikal's North Acropolis.

The pyramid was constructed from ca 300 BC (base rooms) and was completed ca 50 AD.

Discovery

A team led by William Saturno, a researcher for the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology and a lecturer at the University of New Hampshire, discovered a mural room in 2001 in the base of the pyramid. Excavation began in March 2003. These murals were carbon-dated as from 100 BC, which makes them, the oldest and finest, Maya murals discovered as of 2007.Fact|date=June 2007 Saturno describes it as the Sistine Chapel of the MayaFact|date=June 2007. These provide evidence that the Maya had full-fledged monarchies centuries earlier than previously thought. There also have been found the earliest painted glyphs known in the Maya area dating ca 350 BC.

The tomb of an early Maya king was found 1.6 kilometres away to the west. It was uncovered beneath a small pyramid in 2005 by a team lead by archaeologist Monica Pellecer Alecio. This is from ca 150 BC, and is thus the oldest known Maya royal tomb.

Murals

The murals depicts the Maya creation Myth as described in the Popol Vuh. [ [http://www.mesoweb.com/reports/SanBartoloWriting.html Mesoweb Reports ] ]

One mural on the west wall shows the birth of the Maya Cosmos, with successive images of gods, sacrifices and trees.Fact|date=June 2007 The first four gods are shown piercing their penises, spilling sacrificial blood, then offering a sacrifice. The sacrifices are fish (representing the watery underworld), deer (land), turkey (sky?), and fragrant blossoms, (food of the gods). The fifth god is the Maya maize god. Project iconographer Karl Taube of University of California, Riverside, indicates these same sacrifices appear in Mayan texts from the 13th century (for example the Dresden Codex), thus indicating a long continuity of religious symbolism.

The next part of the mural depicts the coronation of a king, showing divine right to rule coming from the gods.

References

Specific references:General references: :* [http://www.peabody.harvard.edu/SanBartolo.htm Peabody Museum, Harvard The Early Maya murals at San Bartolo, Guatemala] :* The dawn of Maya gods and kings, National Geographic, January 2006:* [http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/12/1213_051213_maya_mural.html "Oldest known Maya mural, tomb tells story of ancient king" "National Geographic News" December 12, 2005] :* [http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-12-14-voa1.cfm "Archaeologists in Guatemala unearth early Mayan mural" 14 December 2005]

External links

* [http://www.sanbartolo.org/ San Bartolos's official website] ; also [http://www.sanbartolo.org/espanol.htm in Spanish]