A 1,700-year-old royal tomb in Guatemala is overflowing with funeral offerings, including an intricately designed jade mask depicting a Maya deity. The tomb, located at an archaeological site known as Chochkitam near the borders of what are now Mexico and Belize, was the burial site for a previously unknown king. Along with the mask, designed to resemble the Maya storm god, researchers found 16 mollusc shells and hieroglyphs carved into human femurs, including one drawing depicting a man holding a jade mask similar to the artefact tucked inside the tomb. Researchers think the hieroglyphs identify the king’s father and grandfather, and serve as a link to the ruler of the Maya states of Tikal and Teotihuacan. “A discovery like this is a bit like winning the lottery in terms of information,” said Francisco Estrada-Belli, an archaeologist who discovered the tomb in 2022. “It opens a window into an obscure time we have little texts about.” This era, known as the Maya Classic period, stretched from roughly 250 to 900 CE and is considered the height of the Mesoamerican civilisation’s rule.
The mask was just one of many items found inside a 1,700-year-old tomb
© Francisco Estrada-Belli/Tulane University