Scientists Pinpoint Mystery Maya City in Guatemala
Guatemala City (Guatemala):
For more than two decades, Site Q was the elusive Maya city that lived in the imaginations of archaeologists, the rumored home of ancient monuments that once flooded the art market.
The mystery, however, might be over after archaeologists from Southern Methodist University and Yale University confirmed Tuesday the discovery of the city in the overgrown jungles of Guatemala.
The find, based on a two-piece limestone panel with more than 140 hieroglyphs, concludes what a Yale archaeologist calls "one of the longest and wildest hunts for a Maya city in the history of the discipline."
It also stands to help unlock secrets about the New World's only literate ancient civilization.
"It anchors a whole piece of floating Maya history into the ground," SMU archaeologist David Freidel said.
Dr. Freidel and his team found proof of the city while working at a little-known royal center called La Corona in the northwest Petén region of Guatemala.
There, Yale archaeologist Marcello Canuto found the panel, establishing La Corona as the site of the ancient city.
"The discovery of Site Q promises the recovery of a record of one of the greatest producers of classic Maya civilization," Dr. Canuto said.
The enigma of Site Q began in the 1960s when a series of Maya monuments of similar style but unknown origin inundated the art market, ending up in museums and private collections. One such monument, an ancient altar, sits at the Dallas Museum of Art.
A decade later, a graduate student at Yale began connecting the dots, positing the idea of an undiscovered city or site that had been looted.
He called it Site Q, an abbreviation of the Spanish Sitio Que, or "Which Site."
For archaeologists, it was a tantalizing concept. Ancient Maya civilization was dominated by two large, autonomous and warring city-states: Calakmul in Mexico and Tikal in Guatemala.
Although much was known of Tikal, Calakmul had yielded far fewer clues.
Site Q, thought to be an ally of Calakmul, held the potential to fill out the picture and perhaps help prove a large north-south ancient road.
"Site Q was proposed to be in one place, then in another place. There were all these candidates, but none of them really panned out," Dr. Canuto said.
In the 1990s, trackers working for conservation societies in Guatemala led researchers to La Corona. In 1997, Harvard archeologists explored the site, finding clues that helped begin to make the link between the area and the lost city. Still, definitive evidence was lacking.
"There was a general sense that Site Q might never be found. It might not be a site or it might be a series of sites in the region," Dr. Canuto said.
The break came in April, when researchers left for a six-day expedition at La Corona, sponsored in part by the National Geographic Society.
In a trench at the location, Dr. Canuto came across the stone panel, SMU graduate student Stanley Guenter said.
"We had never expected to find something like that," Mr. Guenter said. "A find like this is a once in a lifetime deal."
The team has presented its findings to archaeologists in Guatemala and plans to return in the spring for another expedition. A full excavation could begin as early as 2007, Dr. Canuto said.
Dr. Freidel and other SMU researchers also have worked extensively at El Perú, or Waka, about 30 miles from the latest discovery. The archaeologist has begun the first modern survey of Waka's ruined temples and palaces.
Last year, one of his graduate students, David Lee, unearthed the tomb of a powerful queen who ruled a Maya city 13 centuries ago.
"People have been talking about Site Q monuments for 30 years," Dr. Freidel said. "It's answering a question that's been on the table for 30 years."
Dr. Freidel and others hope the find opens the door further to Maya civilization around the seventh century. It could also help establish the existence of a major ancient interstate running through the area.
"We have the outlines of a royal road," Dr. Freidel said. "We're connecting the dots."
Sept 27, 2005
Paul Meyer, The Dallas Morning News
Guatemala City (Guatemala):
For more than two decades, Site Q was the elusive Maya city that lived in the imaginations of archaeologists, the rumored home of ancient monuments that once flooded the art market.
The mystery, however, might be over after archaeologists from Southern Methodist University and Yale University confirmed Tuesday the discovery of the city in the overgrown jungles of Guatemala.
The find, based on a two-piece limestone panel with more than 140 hieroglyphs, concludes what a Yale archaeologist calls "one of the longest and wildest hunts for a Maya city in the history of the discipline."
It also stands to help unlock secrets about the New World's only literate ancient civilization.
"It anchors a whole piece of floating Maya history into the ground," SMU archaeologist David Freidel said.
Dr. Freidel and his team found proof of the city while working at a little-known royal center called La Corona in the northwest Petén region of Guatemala.
There, Yale archaeologist Marcello Canuto found the panel, establishing La Corona as the site of the ancient city.
"The discovery of Site Q promises the recovery of a record of one of the greatest producers of classic Maya civilization," Dr. Canuto said.
The enigma of Site Q began in the 1960s when a series of Maya monuments of similar style but unknown origin inundated the art market, ending up in museums and private collections. One such monument, an ancient altar, sits at the Dallas Museum of Art.
A decade later, a graduate student at Yale began connecting the dots, positing the idea of an undiscovered city or site that had been looted.
He called it Site Q, an abbreviation of the Spanish Sitio Que, or "Which Site."
For archaeologists, it was a tantalizing concept. Ancient Maya civilization was dominated by two large, autonomous and warring city-states: Calakmul in Mexico and Tikal in Guatemala.
Although much was known of Tikal, Calakmul had yielded far fewer clues.
Site Q, thought to be an ally of Calakmul, held the potential to fill out the picture and perhaps help prove a large north-south ancient road.
"Site Q was proposed to be in one place, then in another place. There were all these candidates, but none of them really panned out," Dr. Canuto said.
In the 1990s, trackers working for conservation societies in Guatemala led researchers to La Corona. In 1997, Harvard archeologists explored the site, finding clues that helped begin to make the link between the area and the lost city. Still, definitive evidence was lacking.
"There was a general sense that Site Q might never be found. It might not be a site or it might be a series of sites in the region," Dr. Canuto said.
The break came in April, when researchers left for a six-day expedition at La Corona, sponsored in part by the National Geographic Society.
In a trench at the location, Dr. Canuto came across the stone panel, SMU graduate student Stanley Guenter said.
"We had never expected to find something like that," Mr. Guenter said. "A find like this is a once in a lifetime deal."
The team has presented its findings to archaeologists in Guatemala and plans to return in the spring for another expedition. A full excavation could begin as early as 2007, Dr. Canuto said.
Dr. Freidel and other SMU researchers also have worked extensively at El Perú, or Waka, about 30 miles from the latest discovery. The archaeologist has begun the first modern survey of Waka's ruined temples and palaces.
Last year, one of his graduate students, David Lee, unearthed the tomb of a powerful queen who ruled a Maya city 13 centuries ago.
"People have been talking about Site Q monuments for 30 years," Dr. Freidel said. "It's answering a question that's been on the table for 30 years."
Dr. Freidel and others hope the find opens the door further to Maya civilization around the seventh century. It could also help establish the existence of a major ancient interstate running through the area.
"We have the outlines of a royal road," Dr. Freidel said. "We're connecting the dots."
Sept 27, 2005
Paul Meyer, The Dallas Morning News
