A tracing of an image found at the El Zotz archaeological site in Guatemala depicts the Maya sun god. “The stuccos provide unprecedented insight into how the Maya conceived of the heavens,” said archaeologist Stephen Houston, “how they thought of the sun, and how the sun itself would have been grafted onto the identity of kings and the dynasties that would follow them.” Credit: Stephen Houston
July 18, 2012 | By Courtney Coelho
A team of archaeologists led by Stephen Houston has made a new discovery at the Maya archaeological site in El Zotz, Guatemala, uncovering a pyramid believed to celebrate the Maya sun god. The structure's outer walls depict the god in an unprecedented set of images done in painted stucco. In 2010, the team uncovered a royal tomb filled with artifacts and human remains at the same site. Researchers believe the pyramid was built to link the deceased lord to the eternal sun.
