Human burials and bullets from Spanish weapons found at site of last Mayan fortress in Guatemala

Pottery, human burials and bullets from Spanish weapons are among the artifacts found by archaeologists in Guatemala at the site of the last Mayan city to resist European conquest, officials said Friday.

A new excavation project began last June to learn more about the Tayasal outpost, where the Mayans first settled in 900 BC. in the pre-classical period, the archaeologist in charge of the excavation told AFP.

Tayasal was the last Mayan city to succumb to Spanish conquest in 1697, a century after Europeans entered the western highlands of modern-day Guatemala, Suarlin Cordova said.

“It was more than 100 years that the northern part of Guatemala was completely outside of Spanish rule, and this happened mainly because the jungle functioned as a natural border, which made it very difficult for the Spanish to get there,” Cordova said.

In 1525, Tayasal was also part of the route used by the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés during his journey to present-day Honduras.

Most of the buildings at the Tayasal site are buried under soil and vegetation in an area of ​​seven square kilometers near Lake Peten Itza.

Among the partially exposed structures at the site is the 30-meter-high acropolis, which, according to research, served as the residence of the ruling elite.

Also visible is a water well that has been in use since pre-Hispanic times.

One goal of the project is to improve the site so tourists can better “appreciate” the archaeological value of the vast Mayan region, said Jenny Barrios of Guatemala. Ministry of Culture and Sports.

The Mayan civilization flourished between 250 and 900 AD in what is now southern Mexico and Guatemala, as well as parts of Belize, El Salvador, and Honduras.

In 2018, archaeologists used high-tech mapping technology to virtually unearth a massive network of Mayan ruins hidden for centuries in the dense jungles of Guatemala, CBS News’ David Benyo reported.

The landscape revealed included previously unknown cities and more than 60,000 interconnected structures, including houses, farms, highways and even pyramids. Scientists and archaeologists discovered the ancient ruins by firing lasers from a plane to penetrate the dense jungle.

According to preliminary estimates, only 1-2 million people lived in the Maya lowlands. But now researchers believe that about 20 million people could have lived there.