A spectacular tomb associated with the ancient Zapotec civilisation has been uncovered on Cerro de la Cantera, in San Pablo Huitzo, Oaxaca, south-western Mexico. The burial was brought to the attention of archaeologists from INAH thanks to an anonymous report…
Monumental finds in Mexico Excavations at Aguada Fénix in Tabasco, south-east Mexico, have revealed a large complex that was constructed c.3,000 years ago, making it possibly the oldest Mayan monument ever discovered. The site was first identified during a LiDAR…
Excavations at the largest Maya site in Belize have uncovered a tomb believed to belong to the city’s first king.
Research in the Bolivian Andes has identified a previously unknown Tiwanaku ceremonial complex. The Tiwanaku civilisation (c.AD 500-1000) was a pre-Inca culture centred around the southern shores of Lake Titicaca, in western Bolivia, but their influence is believed to have…
Excavations at the Maya site of Tikal in Guatemala have uncovered a painted altar associated with the city of Teotihuacán, located more than 1,000km away in central Mexico. Previous archaeological work at Tikal has uncovered evidence of extensive contact between…
REVIEW BY JOSHUA T SCHNELL The decorated smiles of the ancient Maya, characterised by their carved, incised, and inlaid dental arches, have long fascinated those who have gazed on them, inspiring more than a century of scholarly research. Vera Tiesler…
REVIEW BY BRYAN R JUST Megan O’Neil’s Memory in Fragments provides a comprehensive and nuanced presentation of a topic the author has been exploring for years, namely the myriad ways the ancient Maya interacted with monumental sculptures over their long…
Painted throne room discovered in Peru Excavations in a large square-pillared Moche building in Peru have uncovered a painted room which is believed to be the throne room of a previously unrecognised female ruler, dating to around AD 650. The…
Surveying an area of remote Mexican jungle that was previously devoid of Maya sites has produced remarkable results. Ivan Šprajc told Matthew Symonds how he set about discovering lost settlements in an archaeological black hole.
Excavations at a Moche site in north-central Peru have uncovered a throne room believed to belong to a previously unrecognised female ruler. The site of Pañamarca was first rediscovered in the 1950s, and since 2018 has been the subject of…
DNA analysis of human remains from a mass burial at Chichén Itzá in Mexico is revealing new details about the ritual practices of the ancient Maya, as well as their genetic links to modern populations. In 1967, the remains of…
Roman residence revealed A remarkably preserved domus, dating to the late Republican period, has been excavated in Rome between the Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum. First discovered in 2018, the site – which has been named the Domus del…
Recent archaeological investigations at the Castle Rock settlement complex, in the Mesa Verde region, have revealed new information about the Ancestral Pueblo community who lived here. Radosław Palonka, who led the research, tells us more.
A 1,700-year-old tomb belonging to a previously unknown Maya ruler has been discovered in northern Guatemala. The site of Chochkitam – a medium- sized Maya city with a monumental centre covering an area of c.1km2 – has been known since…
Excavations at the archaeological site of Pachacámac, near Lima, have uncovered a remarkable collection of well-preserved burial bundles dating to the time of the Wari Empire (AD 800-1100). Pachacámac, which was occupied from c.200 BC up to the Early Colonial…
Cooking curries in Vietnam 2,000 years ago Microscopic analysis of plant remains from 12 grinding stone tools found at the site of Óc Eo, in southern Vietnam, has provided new insight into the spice trade in the region between 2,000…
Archaeologists working at the Moche site of Pañamarca, which is in western Peru, have uncovered intriguing depictions of a two-faced figure among the murals of its pillared hall. This building, which archaeologists believe may have been the most important at…
A round-up of some of the latest archaeological discoveries from around the globe.
The ancient Maya ballgame, known as pelota or sometimes pok-ta-pok, played an important ritual and symbolic role in the Mesoamerican culture.
Review by Eric Singleton It is a welcome departure to see a scholar stepping outside their regionalised field of study to offer an interconnected view of North American history that is not often discussed. This is what Timothy Pauketat, an…
In 2022, archaeologists from the University of Toronto and the University of Trujillo began the first excavations of Cerro Prieto Espinal, a mountainside fortress-temple and settlement in north coastal Peru. Across the 3km-wide site, the team identified massive concentric walls,…
With no contemporary written record to guide us, we cannot know the precise meaning behind the many depictions of human hands featured in prehistoric cave art around the world – the oldest known examples of which are believed to have…
Recent breakthroughs in the study of Maya hieroglyphs have revealed artist signatures on artefacts long considered to be the work of anonymous artisans. Joanne Pillsbury and Laura Filloy Nadal introduce us to the newly identified sculptors and painters who worked in the Maya royal courts.
In those days, Mesoamerican archaeology was not for the faint-hearted, and Sylvanus Griswold Morley – ‘physically frail, short of stature, squeaky-voiced and near-sighted’, according to Prudence Rice and Christopher Ward – wasn’t really cut out for it. He suffered stomach…
A round-up of some of the latest archaeological news from around the globe.
The dates listed below may have changed since we went to print. Check the websites of the museums for the most up-to-date information and bookings.
The spider monkey was found along with a golden eagle, rattlesnakes, and artefacts made of jade, shell, and obsidian.
The fact that cacao appears to have been generally available does not diminish its value, but rather suggests that its importance for the Maya people extended throughout society.
Beneath a corridor in the mausoleum, they found a burial structure, a mortuary gallery dubbed the ‘Gallery of Elite Craftsmen’.
With workers living on site, and indoor salt kitchens, Ta’ab Nuk Na could produce salt year-round.
The settlement has been dated to the Early Classic Period (c. AD 250-600).
It has long been assumed that Amazonia was always sparsely inhabited by humans. Now LiDAR survey in Bolivia has revealed the stunning scale of settlements that lay concealed beneath dense tropical vegetation. Heiko Prümers told Matthew Symonds why it is time to rethink the nature of life in this region.
It portrays a ferocious Maya chief clad in a jaguar skin, with a jaguar’s head on his own, spearing an unfortunate captive. First seen by an outsider in 1946, the paintings are as close a reflection as you are likely to see of life in an elite Maya centre.
• Maya underworld: subterranean secrets in Mexico
• The many faces of feminine power
• Into the desert: a pioneering journey to Palmyra
• A pub crawl around Pompeii
• Archaeology on screen
• What the Romans did for Athens
Southeast Mexico is rich in caves. This extraordinary underworld has influenced human activity for thousands of years. Now a project dedicated to understanding and preserving this realm is shedding new light on the archaeology of the Yucatán Peninsula, as Guillermo de Anda told Matthew Symonds.
A round-up of the latest archaeological stories from across the globe.