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2,000-year-old palace discovered in Mexico
Bioscholar ^ | Friday, September 2nd, 2011 | unattributed

Posted on 09/03/2011 11:51:01 AM PDT by SunkenCiv

A team of Mexican specialists discovered remnants of a 2,000-year-old Mayan palace at an archaeological site in the southeastern state of Chiapas.

"The discovery constitutes the first architectural evidence of such an early occupation of the ancient Mayan cities of the Upper Usumacinta basin" in the Lacandona Jungle, the National Institute of Anthropology and History said in a statement Wednesday.

The project's director, Luis Alberto Martos, said this new discovery was made in a sunken courtyard located in the northern part of the the Plan de Ayutla archaeological site and represents the first evidence of occupation of that area between 50 B.C. and 50 A.D.

Martos added that the earliest concrete evidence of Mayan occupation of that region before now had dated back only to 250 A.D.

He said the palace consists of "rooms with walls almost one meter wide, whose corners are rounded, an early characteristic of Mayan architecture".

The archaeologist added that Mayans of a later era dismantled the palace and filled in the courtyard to raise the level of the other buildings, and that is why "the remains of the early palace remained below and were preserved".

The later constructions were built between 250-800 A.D. and correspond to the Classic period, when this site played an important political role.

This research will provide a deeper look at political interaction and integration in this region, "an area where several kingdoms were in conflict and battles were waged and alliances formed", Martos said.

(Excerpt) Read more at news.bioscholar.com ...


TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: godsgravesglyphs; mayanpalace; mayans; mexico
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To: GladesGuru
And, a question for ALL - why did the Indigenous in the Upper Michigan area walk over huge outcroppings of mettalic copper (metal, not ore) and never learn to use it for anything other than ornamental use?

Like fish hooks, knives, awls, spear points?

They did.

Look up old copper culture great lakes and you can see some of what they have dug up.

Problem is that copper is really too soft a metal to use everything for and the tin deposits were down in Florida so bronze was never discovered.

21 posted on 09/05/2011 12:23:30 PM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear (Can we ask questions which God finds unanswerable? Easily. All nonsense questions are unanswerable.)
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To: Mount Athos

It is true that it used to be thought to be younger, but later finds (probably made since we were both in school) have pushed back the origins of city-building in the Americas. Don’t get Blam started on Caral... ;’)

The Olmecs (who were predecessors of the Mayans, and their earlier system of writing was further developed by the Mayans) used to be thought to have been in that ballpark (500 BC at earliest), but that’s been kicked back at least 1000 years. The largest known Mayan city was built in what used to be considered their PreClassic period. :’)


22 posted on 09/05/2011 6:15:59 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (It's never a bad time to FReep this link -- https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: Tijeras_Slim
;') [singing] two thousand uno du'os party over says the lights of heaven /
tonight i'm gonna party like it's two thousand eleven
December 20, 2012

23 posted on 09/05/2011 6:21:05 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (It's never a bad time to FReep this link -- https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: SunkenCiv

I saw the movie. How bad can the threat be if humanity is saved by the acting skills of John Cusack?


24 posted on 09/05/2011 6:25:51 PM PDT by Tijeras_Slim
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To: Tijeras_Slim

That’s a little unfair. That one character he plays in every movie he’s ever been in is done to perfection.


25 posted on 09/05/2011 7:48:38 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (It's never a bad time to FReep this link -- https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: SunkenCiv

Ok, but I still want my two dollars!


26 posted on 09/06/2011 6:22:35 AM PDT by Tijeras_Slim
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