Excavating El Mirador: Uncovering History
At the heart of the jungles and bajo swamps of northern Guatemala lies an ancient Mayan civilization unlike any other. El Mirador dates back to 1000 B.C. and stretches ten square miles across the Mirador Basin. Five ancient cities lie in the basin, including El Mirador, Tintal, Xulnal, Nakbé, and Wakná. Out of these five cities, El Mirador has recently sparked the most interest among historians.
The largest of the five Mirador Basin civilizations, El Mirador, was home to about 100,000 people at its peak (between 150 B.C. and 150 A.D.). Historians believe that El Mirador was a strong political and economic trade center at its time. Large buildings erected for religious purposes stand at its center.
Most interesting, however, is the fact that El Mirador predates the arrival of Spanish conquistadors by 1,000 years and harbors the untainted creation story of Mayan civilization. Before archaeologists began to excavate El Mirador in 2008, their knowledge of the Mayan people came from archaeological sites dating from 250 B.C. to 900 A.D. During this time, the Mayans flourished. Archaeologists believed that the time before this period was a stone age. The recent findings in El Mirador prove, however, that this was not the case. After a year of excavation, the archaeologists of El Mirador made a revolutionary discovery. They unearthed elaborate carvings that predate all previously discovered Mayan carvings. Since they were written before the arrival of the conquistadors, the Spanish presence in South America did not taint them and the culture they represent. Once these carvings are interpreted, they will tell the story of the ancient Mayans before the Spanish refashioned their society by converting the Mayans to Catholicism and burning their literature.
The amazing discovery of El Mirador lead to its new nickname, “the cradle of Mayan civilization.” Another earth-shattering discovery in El Mirador is the great pyramid, La Danta. At 72 meters tall, La Danta is quite possibly the largest pyramid in the world. The unmistakable urban layout, complete with the massive La Danta and ancient carvings of El Mirador, showcases the advancements of the Mayan culture. In their continued excavation, archaeologists hope to better understand the Mayan history that precedes the arrival of the conquistadors.
Although recently discovered, El Mirador is in danger. In addition to deforestation, looters pose a constant threat to the artifacts in El Mirador. Guards stationed in the cities of the Mirador Basin do their best to protect the delicate history. “Where we’ve had guards in cities throughout the basin, we’ve had no new looters’ trenches,” says Richard Hansen, head archaeologist in the excavation of El Mirador, “[but] where we haven’t had the resources for that, we’ve lost one hundred percent.” The Mirador Basin project has attracted a lot of attention in the past few years, and El Mirador is poised to become the most visited archeological site in Mesoamerica. In order to better protect the safety of these cities, archaeologists have teamed up with the Guatemalan government to create the Regional System for the Special Protection of Cultural Heritage, which will deem the Mirador Basin a “special archaeological zone.” “[El Mirador] is a world wonder – and needs to be protected,” says Roan McNab of the Wildlife Conservation Society.
Archaeologists have only begun to unravel the past of the Maya. At least twenty-six undiscovered cities fill the 525,100 acre Mirador Basin and archaeologists must find them before the looters do.
Interest in the Maya will never fade. They were extremely advanced in the fields of astronomy, mathematics, and art. In addition, they made accurate lunar calendars and constructed buildings of an awesome scale. Their culture is also laden with bizarre sacrifice rituals and both accurate and unlikely predictions (the Maya predicted many celestial events, such as eclipses and even the end of the world in 2012). The revealing of this totally new Mayan city adds to the culture’s mysterious aura – all that scholars thought known no longer stands as true. For now, archaeologists must keep digging and searching in order to paint an accurate picture of early Mayan civilization. Historians must be ready with pen a in hand to rewrite history.
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