Oldest Mayan Mural found in San Bartolo
A group of archeologist have just found the oldest Mayan murals in San Bartolo, Peten. This murals are in good condition and shed new light in the origins of the Mayan Civilization. According to William Saturno, an expert of the Peabody Museum, this murals are master pieces of Mayan art and show the beginnings of this civilization. This murals measurements are 9 meters long by 1 meter high. It was found in a recently discovered temple in the City of San Bartolo, Peten. This team of archeologist also found the oldest Mayan tomb close by. This two discoveries are very important because they show Mayan civilization of the Preclassic period. This Period is considered to have spanned from 1500 B.C. to 250 years A.D. Before this discovery, the only known Pre classic mayan murals were found in pieces and well worn by time and the elements. This murals, with its high quality, show the mystics of mayan reality and changes all the knowledge obtained up to now of the Mayan civilization. This mural show the order in which the world was created. The creation, according to this mural, is personified in four different divinities that are variations from the son of the Corn God. This divinities symbolize water, land, air and the east paradise where the sun is born every day. The quality of this murals show that the Mayas of this period, worked with a high grade of sophistication and elegance long before the VII century (Classic Period). The Dresden Codice, which is one of the four most important Mayan Codices that have survived, contains pictures of simmilar quality to the pictures found in the mural. This shows the sophistication of the Mayan at the time because the Dresden Codice was done 1500 years after the San Bartolo Mural was painted. The Mayan writing system contained 800 symbols and it is considered as the most perfected writing system of mesoamerica. The team of archeologist, directed by the Guatemalan archeologist Monica Pellecer also found 1.6 kilometers of funerary chambers that probably houses the tombs of the first Mayan Kings. In the funerary chamber, they found the esqueleton of a man with a jade plaque in his stomach. This jade plaque was a symbol of nobility. The San Bartolo project started 5 years ago and it is not completed yet. This discovery will be appearing the the january edition of National Geographic magazine. For now, National Geographic will be the only way to see this discovery because this site is not open to the public.
