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Ancestral Geographies of the Neolithic, Edmonds, Bender

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<< 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 Corzo
Country: Mexico Region: Chiapas Type: Pyramid / Mastaba
Nearest Town: Chiapa de Corzo
Latitude: 16.702814N  Longitude: 93.004004W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
4 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
no data Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
4 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
4

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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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"Chiapa de Corzo" | Login/Create an Account | 3 News and Comments
  
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Street View by Andy B on Saturday, 11 December 2010
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Archaeologists Discover Two More Human Skeletons Accompanied by a Rich Offering by davidmorgan on Thursday, 09 December 2010
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After discovering a 2,700 year old tomb, probably the earliest in Mesoamerica, the team of specialists of the Chiapa de Corzo Archaeological Project discovered another multiple burial that probably dates from 500 BC, which was accompanied by an offering where a necklace with an Olmeca-style pendant stands out.

Also found at Mound 11 of Chiapa de Corzo Archaeological Zone, this second discovery consists in 2 osseous remains of male adults, located in a corner of the excavation area of the hill. Due to the hard-to-reach place where they were found, and the poor conservation state the remains present, the burial was explored partially.

The Chiapa de Corzo Archaeological Project is conducted by the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), the Brigham Young University (BYU), and the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) through its Center for Maya Studies at the Institute of Philological Investigations.

The project is co-directed by Bruce R. Bachand, Ph.D. from BYU and Emiliano Gallaga, Ph.D., part of INAH. Lynneth Lowe Ph.D. is part of the UNAM Center for Maya Studies.

Archaeologist Lowe, in charge of excavations at the hill of Mound 11, announced the second finding a few months ago, when the last field season at the Mixe-Zoque site concluded.

“We explored the west border of the tomb, which had a roof constructed with andirons and wood panels which gave away to the weight of soil, causing the skeletons to fragment in tiny pieces, from which skulls and some vertebrae were rescued. The personages, buried near 500 BC, might have been companions of a higher rank character.

“This is a very rich burial. At the explored part were found offerings that have symbolic relation with the underworld, containing 5 vessels, shells, snails, remains of animals, such as the skull of a crocodile; a brocade attire with dozens of canine fangs and the shell of a turtle attached; a jade beads necklace, and fragments of 2 bone masks”.

Bruce Bachand and Lynneth Lowe mentioned that among the offerings covered with dense black soil were found 2 pendants that were part of necklaces. One of them stands out because it presents the profile of a personage with Olmeca features.

Created on a turtle shell, this pendant is unique, since fragments of similar pieces have been found, but it is the only one complete to present. The other pendant is made out of an iron mineral, it represents a deer but it is not complete.

The general characteristics of the multiple burial and its offering, as pointed out by the experts, confirms the early use of the Mound 11 of Chiapa de Corzo as a funerary space, destined to high rank personages, as well as the connection between this settlement and the Olmeca nuclear area at the Gulf Coast, mainly La Venta.

“Mound 11 was a pyramid that must have been 6 or 7 meters high and represented the main construction in the first stages of the site, because dignitaries were buried there. In later stages, near 100 of the Common Era, entombments of members of the hierarchy took place in smaller buildings”, pointed out the archaeologists.

At present, works of the Chiapa de Corzo Archaeological Project are focused on the registration of material (such as animal remains, mollusks, pearls and ornaments) found in the field season, in order to determine their origin.

According to the nature of the pieces found in the offerings, “apparently Chiapa de Corzo had relations with the Gulf Area, the Pacific Coast, the valley of Motagua, in Guatemala, and the Central Valleys of Oaxaca”.

Radiocarbon and DNA studies must be conducted to establish more accurately the temporality and possible relations between both elite entombments found until now in Mound 11.

Regarding analyses applied to the bone remains on the 4 individuals discovered in May 2010 by physical anthropologist Andres del Angel, from the UNAM Institut

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Re: Chiapa de Corzo by davidmorgan on Friday, 21 May 2010
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The Brigham Young University excavation website.
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