Friday, June 24, 2011

View inside an ancient Mayan tomb

Exterior view of tomb of Mayan ruler at the ruins of the Mayan city of Palenque in the hills of the southern Mexican state of Chiapas (INAH/Reuters).

A tiny remote-controlled camera peered inside the tomb that had been sealed for 1,500 years, revealing red frescoes, pottery, and pieces of a funerary shroud made of jade and mother of pearl. Archeologists had not been able to access the vault discovered in 1999 inside a Mexican pyramid among the ruins until now, the INAH said in a release on Thursday. More



Tiny camera reveal early Mayan tomb
Researchers said Thursday that a tiny remote-controlled camera lowered into an early Mayan tomb in southern Mexico has helped reveal an intact funeral chamber with offerings and red-painted wall murals. The tomb was discovered in 1999 inside a pyramid among the ruins of the Mayan city of Palenque in the hills of the southern Mexican state of Chiapas.

Mexico City – Mexican archaeologists have found a new ballplayer monolith dating from between 900 A.D. and 1000 A.D at an archaeological site in the north-central state of Zacatecas, INAH said.

Maya offering found in Cenote, near Chichen Itza
The offering contains human bones of at least six individuals, probably sacrificed during a pair of intense dry season periods, one nearly 1200 years ago and the other, 900, as well as ceramic vessels; jade and shell beads; flint and double leaf knives, shell round artifacts that might have been Tlaloc goggles, animal bones, and a great amount of charcoal probably used during the ritual.