[Aztlan] FOLLOW UP ON TAK'ALIK AB'AJ DISCOVERY

[michael ruggeri]

Listeros,

Erik Boot has posted a follow up on the important find at Tak' alik  
Ab'aj at his Maya News Site.

Mike Ruggeri


Maya News Updates 2008, No. 18: Tak'alik Ab'aj, Guatemala - New  
Discovery Sheds Light on Early Maya Kingship? [UPDATED April 9, 2008]

Yesterday, Monday April 7, 2008, the National Geographic Society  
posted a video in which a recent and important archaeological find at  
the site of Tak'alik Ab'aj, located on the Pacific Ocean side of the  
Guatemalan mountain range in the departament of Retalhuleu, was  
introduced. The find concerns a large squared stone (probably an  
altar) the borders of which contain a short hieroglyphic text. The  
stone has been labelled Altar 48 and was discovered on March 10, 2008  
(Schieber, personal communication, April 8, 2008). The text is said  
to be four compounds (the voice-over employs "hieroglyphics") long  
and one of the compounds is said to record the ascension to the  
throne of a king of the city of Tak'alik Ab'aj.

The video does show the monument, but unfortunately it does not show  
the new hieroglyphic text in detail. According to Christa Schieber de  
Lavarreda, the archaeologist from the Ministerio de Cultura y  
Deportes de Guatemala project at Tak'alik Ab'aj featured in the  
video, "the king mentioned in the relief could be the founder of a  
Mayan dynasty here." She continues her (translated) comment that  
"also this could be the birth of Mayan culture."
The find of the squared stone is said to date from circa 200 BC,  
which at present solely is based on the style of the sculpture and  
the style of writing. At present the earliest finds at Tak'alik Ab'aj  
date to 2,800 years ago. Since 1987 the Proyecto Nacional Tak'alik  
Abaj is excavating, consolidating, and conservating this important  
archaeological site and the national park in which it is located. The  
project is directed by Christa Schieber de Lavarreda and Miguel  
Orrego Corzo. It is hoped that the short inscription will be  
published (or posted on the web) soon, so that an adequate comment on  
this important and possibly Late Preclassic text can be presented.  
Other important Late Preclassic hieroglyphic texts were found at the  
site of San Bartolo, department of El Petén, Guatemala, most recently  
in late 2005 (reported in Sciencexpress of January 5, 2006) (for some  
descriptions of the finds at San Bartolo, see Maya News Updates 2007,  
Nos. 16, 50, and 51).

The National Geographic Society video (duration: 1:27 min.) can be  
found here).

Erik Boot's Maya News Updates
http://mayanewsupdates.blogspot.com/




Mike Ruggeri's The Ancient Americas Breaking News
http://web.mac.com/michaelruggeri