Ancient Mayan King's Tomb Filled With Treasures Found In Central America

Archaeologists in Central America's Belize have discovered the tomb of the first ruler of the ancient Maya city of Caracol. The husband-wife duo, Dr Arlen and Dr Diane Chase of the University of Houston, achieved the historic milestone after over 40 years of excavation.

The Royal Tomb belongs to Te K'ab Chaak, meaning "Tree Branch Rain God," the first known king of Caracol and the founder of its royal dynasty. The couple, who led the Caracol Archaeological Project, worked in collaboration with Belize's Institute of Archaeology.

The Chases named the structure Caana, which translates to "Sky Place" in Maya, because of its enormous height and size. It rises 141 feet into the sky.

"It is one of our most important finds. We found the first person in the dynasty, so that, in itself, in terms of the history of Caracol, is huge, and it's incredible that we could identify him as a ruler," Dr Diana told the University of Houston.

She added, "We've found numerous tombs with really impressive artefacts inside that were clearly members of the royal family, but this is the first one where it matches with hieroglyphic records to be a ruler and beyond that, the first dynastic ruler."

According to the Caracol Archaeological Project, the city of Caracol dates as far back as 900 BC and thrived for centuries until the broader collapse of the Maya civilisation between AD 800-900. It was one of the most powerful Mayan cities and is now considered the largest Mayan archaeological site in Belize.

Archaeologists found many valuable and beautifully crafted items such as clay pots, carved bones, seashells, jade beads, and jade death masks made with mosaic. One such piece showed Mayan King receiving offerings, while the other pieces showed prisoners tied up, reported CBS News.

One of the pots also had a picture of Ek Chuah, the Mayan god of traders, surrounded by offerings. The king, 5 feet 7 inches tall, was quite old when he died, as he had no teeth left, researchers said.

This is the third tomb discovered at Caracol that dates back to around AD 350. The first tomb, found in 2009, contained the body of a woman along with jewellery, seashells, and pottery. In the second attempt, the ashes of three people, in a container, along with two large knives and several items that seemed to come from central Mexico, were found.