Anya Shetler, an archaeologist in Francisco Estrada-Belli's team, examines the stucco carving found in a Maya pyramid, an ancient billboard of past rulers. “The Storm God enters the sky.” That’s the translation of Och Chan Yopaat, the name of an ancient Maya ruler whose likeness dominates a remarkable carving discovered last month in a Guatemala pyramid. The carving, which depicts the ruler atop a mountain spirit, provides important clues about changes in power as Maya groups warred against each other, said Francisco Estrada-Belli, an archaeologist at Tulane and Boston universities. Estrada-Belli stumbled upon the wall art while exploring the innards of a pyramid that was encased within another pyramid. The carving dates to the ‘90s — the 590s, that is — and is located in the town of Holmul in the Peten region of Guatemala, part of the ancient Maya lowlands. Maya civilization thrived from around 800 BC to 850 AD in Holmul, which was the site of ongoing strife between warring groups, such as the Kanul and the people of Tikal. Estrada-Belli, a Guatemalan who grew up in Italy, has been interested in uncovering the region’s history ever since he visited Tikal, a major Maya archaeological site, with his parents at age 7. “I was completely mesmerized,” he said of his childhood experience. “My father tells me when I went back to school in Italy, I started drawing pyramids and the teacher was quite surprised. She wondered, ‘What happened to this kid?’ But ever since, I’ve been reading nothing but archaeology books.” Read more http://www.latimes.com/news/science...-maya-stucco-carving-20130808,0,2984742.story
