A LOST city where Mayan rebels held out against Spanish conquerors has been found after 300 years.
The Mayan tribe held their fort against Spaniards for over a century before they were conquered.
Credit: Josuh� Lozada Toledo via Pen NewsPhoto shows the expedition to the lost city Sac Balam[/caption]
Credit: Josuh� Lozada Toledo via Pen NewsThe map shows the approximate location of Sac Balam[/caption]
Credit: Gerardo Cordero Aguilar via Pen NewsArtifacts have been discovered at the site[/caption]
Credit: Josuh� Lozada Toledo via Pen NewsExpeditioners at the location of Sac Balam[/caption]
The Lakandon Chʼol fled their capital, Lakam-Tun, at Lake Miramar in modern-day Mexico, in the late 1500s.
They then retreated into the jungles near the the present Guatemalan border where they established a new stronghold Sac Balam.
The Mexican rebels resisted the Spaniards for 109 years until the city fell in 1695.
Sac Balam ultimately disappeared into the jungle while the Lakandon Chʼol were forcibly relocated.
The Mexican tribe all went extinct by the mid-18th century.
Now scientists say they have found Sac Balam, using a groundbreaking predictive model to locate foundations and artifacts in the wilderness.
The researchers relied on the testimony of Diego de Rivas, a friar who was active in the region during the late 17th-century.
For Josuhé Lozada Toledo, of Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), said: “I discovered the possible location of Sak Bahlán through a predictive model using Geographic Information Systems.
“I revisited colonial chronicles to map the number of days Friar Diego de Rivas spent travelling from Sak Bahlán to the Lacantún River in 1698.
“In this way, I was able to predict the location of this important site.”
Sac Balam or Sak Bahlán means “White Jaguar” in the Mayan language which evokes the perils of its remote location.
Dr Lozada Toledo said: “The location deep in the jungle, along with the ruggedness of the territory, allowed the Lakandon Chʼol to hide from the Spanish conquerors.
“It is a land filled with dangerous animals and plants, and hidden behind the mountains.
“It is very remote, situated in the Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve, in the Chaquistero range.
“Reaching the place requires hiking for several hours and camping in the jungle. It is located southeast of Lake Miramar.
“Here they survived for 109 years outside Spanish rule, from 1586, when they abandoned their old settlement on Lake Miramar, until 1695, when they were finally conquered.”
After conquering the stronghold, the Spaniards renamed it Pueblo de Nuestra Señora de Los Dolores – Town of Our Lady of Sorrows.
Josuhé said: “A massacre or genocide was carried out there by the Spanish against the local inhabitants.
“The few survivors were taken to Guatemala, and nothing was ever heard about Sak Bahlán again.”
An expedition to the site, backed by the Discovery Channel, has now discovered foundations, the remains of a wall, and a variety of artefacts.
The archaeological team includes Brent Woodfill of Winthrop University in the US and Yuko Shiratori of Rissho University in Japan.
Dr Lozada Toledo called it “the most demanding fieldwork of my life”.
He said: “All that remains of the city are the foundations of small, low structures – only about 30 to 40 centimetres high.
“And there are archaeological materials buried underground, which we are currently in the process of studying.
“So far, we have found pre-Hispanic pottery, ceramic figurines, obsidian, and the remains of a wall or fortification, as part of the work conducted by Dr Woodfill and Dr Shiratori.
“The next step is to analyse the artifacts uncovered during the excavations and to continue excavating the area, using metal detectors to identify 17th-century metal tools.”
Josuhé hopes their work will shed new light on the Lakandon Chʼol.
He said: “I aim to give voice to the Maya groups that were silenced by Spanish colonisation.
“My main objective is to work with the popular Maya culture that once lived in Sak Bahlán.
“I want to learn more about their customs, religion, and daily life, as well as the way they were annihilated under Spanish rule.
“They were the last rebels to be conquered in the state of Chiapas.”
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