Anthropology
Related: About this forumEl Zotz masks yield insights into Maya beliefs
El Zotz masks yield insights into Maya beliefs
July 18, 2012
Phys.org) -- A team of archaeologists led by Brown University's Stephen Houston has uncovered a pyramid, part of the Maya archaeological site at El Zotz, Guatemala. The ornately decorated structure is topped by a temple covered in a series of masks depicting different phases of the sun, as well as deeply modeled and vibrantly painted stucco throughout.
The team began uncovering the temple, called the Temple of the Night Sun, in 2009. Dating to about 350 to 400 A.D., the temple sits just behind the previously discovered royal tomb, atop the Diablo Pyramid. The structure was likely built after the tomb to venerate the leader buried there.
Houston says that through this find, much of it pristinely preserved, researchers are gaining a significant amount of new information about the Maya civilization.
"The Diablo Pyramid is one of the most ambitiously decorated buildings in ancient America," Houston says. "The stuccos provide unprecedented insight into how the Maya conceived of the heavens, how they thought of the sun, and how the sun itself would have been grafted onto the identity of kings and the dynasties that would follow them."
More:
http://phys.org/news/2012-07-el-zotz-masks-yield-insights.html
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(14 posts)Judi Lynn
(160,527 posts)Mayan Temple Unearthed, Gives Peak At The Past
July 25, 2012
A new Mayan temple is starting to appear as archaeologists unearth an area that once housed a culture rich with art, architecture and mathematics.
In 2010, archaeologists working on a hilltop near the ancient city center discovered the 45-foot-tall Diablo Pyramid, featuring a royal palace and tomb up top.
The archaeologists believe that the tomb holds the citys first ruler, who lived around A.D. 350 to 400.
While uncovering this temple, the team started to unveil the Temple of the Night Sun, located behind the royal tomb on the pyramid.
The sides of the temple feature 5-foot-tall masks that show the face of the sun god changing as he moves the day to night.
More:
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1112662998/mayan-temple-el-zotz/