The newly discovered Maya Mural
At the site called San Bartolo, in Guatemale, researchers have discovered a well-preserved mural of about 10 meters (30 foot) long. It depicts the Maya creation myth, and shows the coronation of an early king. He is painted close to the gods, to show his relation to the gods. You can find out more about the relation between kings and the cosmos elsewhere on this site.
This is why this mural is particularly important; it shows that in pre-classic times, the relation of Maya kings and gods was established.
The mural itself is well preserved and shows delicate paintwork in bright colors. It shows the maize God creating earth and the cosmos, and crowning himself king before crowning the first human king, in presence of Gods.
(Part of the mural. Reuters photo.)
This mural, dated about A.D. 100, also shows that the pre-classic Maya society was actually more advanced than previously thought. This is why researchers say that this is the most important Maya discovery of the past decades.
I'll add more information to this page later. For now, since this research was sponsored by National Geographic, you can find a lot of information on their website.
