MEXICO CITY, Mexico (Reuters) – Archaeologists said on Tuesday (April 5) they expect 180 artifacts unearthed from 14 sites near an ancient Mayan city known as T’hó, located in the Yucatan state capital of Merida, will shed light on pre-Hispanic life in southern Mexico.
During a news conference held at the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City, archaeologists said the 14 peripheral sites are part of 223 sites located close to T’hó.
Four of the 22 archaeologists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) working in Yucatan, said recovery operations in the state have intensified in the last decade.
These recent findings will be shown in an exhibition named: “T’hó: pre-Hispanic life in Merida,” to be presented at the Regional Museum of Anthropology. Palacio Canton, in Merida, INAH officials said.
T’hó was comparable to Chichen Itza, Uxmal and Izamal, according to an INAH news release. Though it was already in ruins when the Spaniards arrived, some residents still lived there. The Spanish were awed by the Mayan city and in 1542 founded Merida.
According to the news release, there are 3,500 archaeological sites in the state of Yucatan, of which just over 220 have been recorded in Merida alone. Since the 1970s, INAH has been working closely with local authorities and from 2002 to the present date, they have helped to conserve sites in the north, northeast and west of the city.
An INAH archaeologist in Yucatan, Luis Pantoja, described the recent Tho findings, which also shed light on how the Maya buried their loved ones.
“We’re presenting a sample of almost 180 artifacts of different types which show from decorative elements to paraphernalia people used for decoration like earrings, necklaces. Work tools using different materials such like jadeite, shells, bones, diverse vessels. It was in a funerary context showing how they buried the Maya in the past,” Pantoja said.
Ceramic figurines with faces of the elderly and some faces modeled with traces of diseases and deformations, stand out. Archaeologists also observed how the common Mayan emulated the luxury of the upper classes, with necklaces made from lime stucco in shell shapes.
Also exhibited is the Cup of the Lord of Sitpach, which forms part of an offering arranged at the funeral of a woman. The vessel has hieroglyphics and was possibly brought from afar as a gift. Pieces in metal were also found, Pantoja continued.
“Also, the presence of metal because for the Maya metal was not a common element. Jade pieces were also found and we have a sample of these types of material so as to have a variety of pieces in the exhibition that common people had,” Pantoja said.
Findings also shed light on how the living conditions of the Maya changed.
Archaeologists said pyramids in T’hó were between six (19 feet) to 12 meters (39 feet) high and formed ceremonial spaces.
The Maya built soaring temples and elaborate palaces in the jungles of Central America and southern Mexico before the Spanish conquest in the early 1500s.
The exhibition will be open to the general public until the middle of the year.