Archaeologists discover royal Mayan tomb containing secrets of the Snake Dynasty

Archaeologists have discovered an enormous and strange Mayan tomb in Belize, leading to both further puzzles and, perhaps, insight into the 1,300-year-old Snake Dynasty and its conquests.

The royal burial chamber was found approximately 16 to 26 feet below ground, and contained the remains of a 20- to 30-year-old male. Although work is still being done to understand the man's identity and cause of death, analysis so far indicates he was athletic and "quite muscular" when he died.

The body was discovered among jaguar and deer bones, jade beads, obsidian blades, and ceramic vessels. What is particularly odd, though, is the fact that the temple "was purposely erected for the primary purpose of enclosing the tomb," archaeologist Jamie Awe told The Guardian. "Except for a very few rare cases, this is not very typical in ancient Maya architecture."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The burial chamber is also one of the largest ever found in Mayan ruins, stretching approximately 15 feet by 8 feet. But perhaps even more exciting than the tomb is the discovery of hieroglyphic panels describing the history of the Snake Dynasty. The panels appear to detail Lord Kan II's conquests as well as the death of his mother; they also refer to a previously unknown ruler.

"This means that there were two contenders to the throne, both carrying the same dynastic title, which appears to have been read Kanu'l Ajaw, 'king of the place where snakes abound,'" said the team's epigrapher, Christophe Helmke. Learn more about what the panels say about this "tumultuous phase of the snake-head dynasty" at The Guardian.