“They discover a burial chamber in the archaeological zone of Palenque.” This has been one of the news that has hit the most in the penultimate week of March of this 2023, especially because it tells us about the treasures that remain to be discovered in our country.
And if for some reason anyone doubts this, we can only ask the INAH how many other things it has discovered in the archaeological zones of southern Mexico, in the context of the construction works of the Mayan Train.
Although, for now, we are going to tell you here of the discovery of the mysterious burial chamber in the archaeological zone of PalenqueChiapas.
They discover a mysterious burial chamber in Palenque
It was in the morning of March 20 that the director of the INAH (National Institute of Anthropology and History), Diego Prieto, made this discovery known, about which much remains to be known.
For example, the group of archaeologists has not said well well the age of the remains found in this burial chamber—although, according to the first glimpses, these remains may have belonged to the communities that lived in Palenque, Chiapas, between the 3rd and 10th centuries.
Primary burial in the Palenque burial chamber
What the INAH found in this burial chamber was a primary burial, consisting of an intact human skeleton and a secondary burialas well as an offering with three plates, a niche and several green stone figures.
All this in the vicinity of the INAH camp. Yes, in the middle of the job he is doing in the so-called CP3 structure, where improvement and renovation tasks are being carried out in this archaeological zone.
As for the primary burial from this burial chamberthe human skeleton was found face-up and facing north.
(What was common among the ancient communities from beyond Palenque and their funeral traditions).
What about the second deposit or secondary burial?
Information is still lacking, but for now experts believe that the skeletal remains found in this site would correspond to a womanwho was perhaps buried somewhere else in this burial chamber.
However, it is possible that in the reopening of this chamber, these remains were rearranged in the antechamber or the access area with respect to the main deposit.
Be careful, the INAH also found another skull in the secondary repository of the burial chamber, peeeeeero He doesn’t have much information about him either.
The archaeological zone in the heart of the jungle of Chiapas
Since we are talking about Palenque, let’s take advantage of this text a little more and remember that this archaeological zone is located in the mero heart of the tropical jungle of Chipas, in the northeast of the state.
It is one of the most important (and impressive) archaeological zones of the Mayan culture in our country —and that is on a par with Chichén Itzá or Calakmul.
what we know about Palenque is that this city was abandoned long before the invasion and victory of Hernán Cortés and his gang. In fact, they say that the first (and known) European visit to Palenque was made by fRay Pedro Lorenzo de la Nada in 1567.
Although the truth is, the Spanish were not interested in taking an in-depth look at the city.
Now, 6 centuries after the expedition of fray Pedro Lorenzo de la Nada and in the context of the work on Section 1 of the Mayan Train —which is around 230 kilometers from Palenque to Escárcega (Campeche)—, INAH has recovered more than 2,000 properties.
More than 200 ceramic objects, metates, figurines and 177 human burials, including those in this mysterious chamber funerary found in the archaeological zone, where the dynasty to which King Pakal belonged developed.
And where can we find from temples, squares, tombs, sculptures, hieroglyphic inscriptions dating from between the years 250 and 900 —and that today are considered a World Heritage Site, a recognition acquired since 1987.
