San Bartolo Murals
MAYAN CULTURE OLDER THAN PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT
The Mayan mural recently found in San Bartolo, Peten, contains information that has helped determined that Mayan civilization was more advanced in the Preclassic Period than previously thought. The history of Guatemala records that the beginnings of the Mayan Civilization dates back to the Preclassic period (300 b.c to 300 a.c. However, this information is about to be re written thanks to the mural discovered in the Mayan city of San Bartolo. The mural found in the archeological center of San Bartolo, Peten, contains information indicating that the Mayan culture is older than what history documents. Willian Saturno, who discovered the mural, told the Mexican press that San Bartolo is a Mayan city that flourished four centuries before Christ and up to century after. This indicates that San Bartolo flourished up to 500 years before Teotihuacan in Mexico flourished. Monica Urquizo, the director of the San Bartolo project, says that the pictographic representation dates back to 100 to 150 A.C. Therefore, it is considered that this is a picture that shows that the culture of the first inhabitants of Mesoamerica living on that time, was highly advanced en every aspect: social, political, economical and religious. The San Bartolo mural, is located in one of eight buildings in this Mayan city. San Bartolo has an extension of 4 square kilometers in the middle of the Peten jungle. The mural measures 9 meter in length and 1.50 meters in hight. The mural is divided in two parts: north, which was found in 2002, and east, found last years. Both murals show a detailed account of Creation according to Mayan mythology. The East Mural, shows 5 trees that represent life in the middle of sacrificial offerings. Urquizo, explains that this mural is the biggest one found to the date showing part of the Mayan civilization. Before this mural was found, the oldest one had been found in Kaminaljuyu and in the south of Guatemala. Hector Escobedo, indicates that this mural demostrates that art on that period, was highly advanced, because there is no error or anything that shows that these were trials. Escobedo, says that this figures in the mural could have been used to give information because reading and writing were only known to the elite class. The writings in this mural are very important because up to know it was thought that writing had developed in the south and the west of Guatemala. There are other murals from the Preclassic period in Uaxactun and Tikal but the difference is that these other murals don’t have writings and the scenes are not as complete as the ones in San Bartolo. Both murals, paint a detailed portrait of Creation according to Mayan mythology and as described in the Popol Vuh. The San Bartolo mural, includes drawings of Quetzalcoatl as creator of the world in relationship with corn, wich is the origen of life according to the Mayan beliefs. Monica Urquizo, Director of the San Bartolo Project, says that the investigations to decipher the mural have to continue, because there are a great amount of figures that haven’t been decipher yet.
