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An ancient Maya wall painting ground in the Guatemalan rain forest may depict a group portrait of advisers to the Maya royalty , a new study finds .
MostMayamurals depict life within the royal sphere , but the newfound wall painting , expose in the Guatemalan rainforest in 2010 , shows avibrant prospect of intellectualsconsulting with the royal governor , who is dressed as the Maya wind up god .
A man with the title “junior obsidian” kneels before the king in a Maya mural researchers uncovered in Guatemala in 2010.
Behind him , an attendant , almost hidden behind the king ’s massive headdress , adds a unique photobomb to the mural , said Bill Saturno , the study ’s lead researcher and an assistant professor of archeology at Boston University . [ See picture of the Ancient Maya Mural ]
" It ’s really our first good look at what scholars in the eighth - century Maya lowlands are doing , " Saturno said .
The wall painting also provide information about a man immerse beneath them . During an dig , the archeologist found the skeleton in the cupboard of a human being dressed like the sages in the wall painting . It ’s possible the man once lived in the room , which later became his final resting post , Saturno say .
This illustration shows a view of the northern and western walls in the Xultun mural chamber.
Archaeologists bring out the some 1,250 - class - one-time wall painting in the ancient city of Xultun , located in the northeastern part of present - twenty-four hours Guatemala . During an archaeological study of Xultun , an undergraduate student inspecting an old looters ' trail observe traces of paint on an ancient wall cover by filth .
" My assumption was that there would be very little to see , " Saturno said . " Not because the Maya did n’t paint mural — they did — but they do n’t keep up well in a tropical environment . "
However , the component had been kind to the building and its treasures . The excavation bring out a orthogonal way covered with murals anda Maya calendar , the oldest known Maya dating system on record book .
Mysterious obsidians
The mural is one of only two eff murals in the eastern Maya lowlands that have lasted throughout the age , the research worker say . The Xultun paintings , illustrated in vibrant red , blue , immature and black pigments , cover three of the room ’s four rampart . The quaternary rampart , damaged by looters , comprise the room access .
Saturno and his fellow excavated past the stage where the looters tunneled , and came face - to - face with " the polychrome face of a business leader seated with his Amytal - feather headdress , " Saturno say . A man kneeling before the king , labeleditz’in taaj , or " junior obsidian , " faces the business leader in profile .
Behind the junior obsidian , on the west wall , are three men dressed in black and sitting cross - legged . One of the man is labeledch’ok , or " youthfulness , " and another is calledsakun taaj , or " senior obsidian . "
It ’s unclear what " obsidian " means , the researchers say .
" Are they religious ? Are they scholars ? Is there a agate line between those thing ? " Saturno said . " They seem to be making leger and paint mesa on the wall . "
All three serviceman endure the same headdress with a medallion and feathery plume , a bloodless loincloth and a medal on their chests .
" You see these three guy cable crop identically and line up on one rampart , " Saturno say . " That ’s unusual . They ’re understandably being represented as a unit . "
The fact that they ’re all wearing the same uniform suggests the obsidian shared similar obligation , Saturno say . Moreover , the people who filled the obsidian order likely dwell in the way for a menses of time , as there are tons of texts painted on the paries . [ Maya Murals : arresting image of King & Calendar ]
Water and tree roots for the most part damaged the eastward wall , but the archaeologists still carry off to find the painted stiff of three individuals .
All the king ’s men
The mural may depict a consultation between the king and the obsidian , the researchers enunciate . The king is dressed as aversion of the wind god , holding a staff with wind symbols on it .
" Mayan kings often dress up as divinity in performance , " Saturno said . " fundamentally re - enacting events from the mythological past . "
Thetiming of the performancewas important , and the obsidian may have been advising the king about its correct date , he said . To remember meetings such as these , obsidians or artists may have painted the wall painting , he said .
" The mural establishes a direct relationship between a finical club , or guild , of Xultun artists and scribal - non-Christian priest and their lord , and it keep its member ’ accomplishment inconsulting and bring forth workfor their sovereign ’s reign , " the researchers write in the subject .
Theking fun bluing , unripened and orange accessories , whereas the obsidians are paint in scarlet and bootleg colors . The pigments from the Rex ’s portrait " are not vernacular to that part of the region where it ’s from , " Saturno said . " These are materials that are being traded in . "
The painting also show an attendant behind the king , possibly to hold up his headdress , Saturno enjoin . " It ’s like a photobomb , " he jest . " He ’s almost like , ' Do you see me here ? ' "
In contrast , the orangish and red colours are made from local pigments , which likely help speciate between royal and non - royal issue in the mural , the researchers state .
The cogitation is " a brilliant gem of learning , " say David Freidel , a prof of anthropology at Washington University in St. Louis , who was not involved with the subject field .
" This elbow room lionise a particular chemical group of members of the royal court of Xultun that are called obsidian , [ or ] taaj , " Freidel say . " The obsidian people appear to be present at other sites , but we do n’t acknowledge much about them . "
It ’s remarkable that the intricate mural was n’t painted at the royal mansion house , say Takeshi Inomata , a professor of anthropology at the University of Arizona , who was n’t involved in the study .
" This comes from the mansion of a courtier , a homage official , " Inomata said . " This enjoin us about how those political governance of Maya society were run , and then we can really get to the people who are really doing all of those things . "
The study was publish in the February issue of thejournal Antiquity . The coauthors are Heather Hurst at Skidmore College in New York , Franco Rossi at Boston University and David Stuart at the University of Texas at Austin .
