<< Text Pages >> Chiapa de Corzo - Pyramid / Mastaba in Mexico in Chiapas
Submitted by Andy B on Tuesday, 18 May 2010 Page Views: 6895
DigsSite Name: Chiapa de CorzoCountry: Mexico Region: Chiapas Type: Pyramid / Mastaba
Nearest Town: Chiapa de Corzo
Latitude: 16.702814N Longitude: 93.004004W
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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External Links:
Pyramid in Mexico. Archaeologists in southern Mexico have discovered the 2,700-year-old tomb of a dignitary inside a pyramid that may be the oldest such burial documented in Mesoamerica. The tomb held a man aged about 50, who was buried with jade collars, pyrite and obsidian artefacts and ceramic vessels.
Archaeologist Emiliano Gallaga said the tomb dates to between 500 and 700BC. It is part of the Zoque Culture Archaeological Zone.
"We think this is one of the earliest discoveries of the use of a pyramid as a tomb, not only as a religious site or temple," Gallaga said.
Pre-Hispanic cultures built pyramids mainly as representations of the levels leading from the underworld to the sky; the highest point usually held a temple.
The tomb was found at a site built by Zoque Indians in Chiapa de Corzo, in southern Chiapas state. It may be almost 1,000 years older than the better-known pyramid tomb of the Mayan ruler Pakal at the Palenque archaeological site, also in Chiapas.
The man – probably a high priest or ruler of Chiapa de Corzo, a prominent settlement at the time – was buried in a stone chamber. Marks in the wall indicate wooden roof supports were used to create the tomb, but the wood long ago collapsed under the weight of the pyramid built above.
Archaeologists began digging into the pyramid mound in April to study the internal structure – pyramids were often built in layers, one atop another – when they happened on a wall whose finished stones appeared to face inward. In digging last week, they uncovered the 4 x 3 metre tomb chamber about 6 or 7 metres beneath what had been the pyramid's peak.
The body of a one-year-old child was laid carefully over the man's body inside the tomb, while that of a 20-year-old male was tossed into the chamber with less care, perhaps sacrificed at the time of burial. The older man was buried with jade and amber collars and bracelets and pearl ornaments. His face was covered with what may have been a funeral mask with obsidian eyes. Nearby, the tomb of a woman (left), also about 50, contained similar ornaments.
The ornaments – some imported from as far away as Guatemala and central Mexico – and some of the 15 ceramic vessels found in the tomb show influences from the Olmec culture, long considered the "mother culture" of the region.
More, with a photo, in The Guardian.
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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
10m W 261° Zoque Culture Archaeological Zone Ancient Village or Settlement
108.1km ENE 78° Tonina* Pyramid / Mastaba
114.3km ESE 123° Tenam Puente* Ancient Village or Settlement
118.8km NNE 22° El Tortuguero* Ancient Village or Settlement
133.8km NE 49° Palenque* Ancient Village or Settlement
141.4km N 1° Museo Regional de Antropologia Carlos Pellier* Museum
144.6km N 3° Parque Museo La Venta* Sculptured Stone
145.1km ESE 116° Chinkultic* Ancient Village or Settlement
154.2km SE 129° Lagartero Ancient Village or Settlement
160.0km ESE 112° Nuevo Ojo de Agua Cave Cave or Rock Shelter
176.6km N 353° Comalcalco* Ancient Village or Settlement
183.8km E 87° Plan de Ayutla* Ancient Village or Settlement
190.7km NW 325° La Venta.* Ancient Village or Settlement
192.3km ENE 74° Piedras Negras* Ancient Village or Settlement
200.3km SE 131° Tecumanchu* Ancient Temple
205.5km E 81° Tecolote Ancient Village or Settlement
206.7km E 90° Bonampak* Ancient Village or Settlement
208.4km ENE 70° San Claudio Ancient Village or Settlement
211.3km SSE 162° Ojo de Agua Carving
216.5km ENE 57° Moral-Reforma* Ancient Village or Settlement
216.6km SSE 156° Izapa* Ancient Village or Settlement
217.2km WNW 301° El Azuzul* Pyramid / Mastaba
218.1km E 84° Yaxchilan* Ancient Village or Settlement
220.0km WNW 302° San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán Museum* Museum
222.0km SE 133° Zaculeu* Ancient Village or Settlement
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