Maya Mural Reveals Ancient 'Photobomb' ~ DepoTech

An ancient Maya mural found in the Guatemalan rainforest can paint a group portrait of advisers to the Mayan royalty, a new study finds.

Most Mayan murals depict life in the royal sphere, but rediscovered fresco uncovered in Guatemala's rainforest in 2010, shows a dynamic scene consulting intellectuals with the royal governor, who is dressed as the god of Maya wind.

Behind him, an attendant, almost hidden behind massive headdress of the king, adds a unique Photobomb of the mural, said Bill Saturno, principal investigator of the study and assistant professor of archeology at the University of Boston. [See photos of the Ancient Maya mural]

"This is really our first good look at what experts in the eighth century Maya Lowlands are," said Saturno.

The murals also provide information about a man buried underneath. During an excavation, archaeologists found the skeleton of a man dressed as the wise in the mural. It is possible that the man once lived in the room, who later became his final resting place, Saturno said.

Archaeologists have discovered some 1 250 years fresco in the ancient city of Xultun, located in the northern part of present Guatemala. During an archaeological study of Xultun, a student of first inspection cycle former looters course noticed traces of paint on an old wall covered with dirt.

"My assumption was that there would be very little to do," said Saturno. "Not because the Mayans did not paint murals - they did - but they do not store well in a tropical environment."

However, the information had been good for the building and its treasures. The excavation discovered a rectangular hall with murals and a Mayan calendar, the oldest known Mayan dating system in the file.

Mysterious obsidian

The fresco is one of only two known murals in the Mayan lowlands of East that lasted through the ages, the researchers said. Xultun paintings, illustrated in red pigments, blue, vibrant green and black cover three of the four walls of the room. The fourth wall, damaged by looters, contains the door.

Saturno and his colleagues excavated beyond the point where looters tunnel and came face-to-face with "the polychrome face of a king sitting with his blue feather headdress," said Saturno. A man kneeling before the king, marked itz'in taaj or "junior obsidian," facing the profile of king.

This illustration shows a view of the north and west walls in the Xultun mural room.
Credit: Illustration by Heather Hurst, Copyright 2014

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Behind the junior obsidian, on the west wall are three men dressed in black and sitting cross-legged. One of the men is marked ch'ok or "young" and another is called Sakun taaj or "senior obsidian."

We do not know what "obsidian", the researchers said.

"Are they religious? Are they learned? Is there a line between these things?" Saturno said. "They seem to be making books and paint pictures on the walls."

The men wear the same hairstyle with a medallion and plume of feathers, a white loincloth and a medallion on the chest.

"You see these three guys dressed identically and lining up on the wall," said Saturno. "That's strange. They are clearly represented as a unit."

The fact that they all wear the same uniform suggests obsidian shared similar tasks, Saturno said. In addition, people who filled obsidian order probably lived in the room for a period of time, because there are dozens of texts painted on the walls. [Wall Maya: beautiful images of King & Calendar]

The water and the roots of trees extensively damaged the wall, but still managed to find the archaeologists painted remains of three people.

All the King

The wall may represent a consultation between the king and obsidian, the researchers said. The king is dressed like a version of the god of wind, holding a stick with wind symbols on it.

"Maya kings often dress as deities performance," Saturno said. "Events of the mythical past Essentially play again."

The performance schedule was important, and obsidian may have been the king's counselor about his correct date, he said. To remember meetings like these, obsidian or artists may have painted the fresco, he said.

"The wall establishes a direct relationship between a particular order, or guild, Xultun of artists and scribes priests and their lord, and celebrates the completion of its members in the board and production work for the reign of their sovereign, "the researchers wrote in the study.

King Sports Blue, green and orange accessories, while obsidian are painted red and black. The portrait of the king pigments "are not common in this part of the region where it comes from," said Saturno. "These are materials that are traded."

The table also shows an attendant behind the king, perhaps to hold up her hair, Saturno said. "It's like a Photobomb," he joked. "It's almost like, 'You see me here?"

In contrast, orange and red colors are made from local pigments, which probably contributed to the difference between the royal and non-royal subjects in the mural, the researchers said.

The study is "a brilliant gem trading," said David Freidel, professor of anthropology at Washington University in St. Louis, who was not involved in the study.

"This famous room a special group of members of the royal court of Xultun who are called obsidian, [or] taaj" said Freidel. "People obsidian seem to be present on other sites, but we do not know much about them."

It is remarkable that the complex was not fresco painted royal residence, said Takeshi Inomata, a professor of anthropology at the University of Arizona, who was not involved in the study.

"This comes from the home of a courtier, a court official," Inomata said. "It tells us how the Maya society political organizations have been executed, and then we can really get to people who really do all these things."

The study was published in the February issue of the journal Antiquity. Co-authors are Heather Hurst at Skidmore College in New York, Franco Rossi at Boston University and David Stuart at the University of Texas at Austin.