May 10, 2012\u2014Researchers have uncovered a remarkably well-preserved Maya mural and calendar markings that add perspective on Maya thinking.
National Geographic Society grantee William Saturno and his team uncovered the artwork in what was either a home or workplace abandoned hundreds of years ago. The findings are published in the May 11 issue of the journal Science and the June edition of National Geographic magazine.
", "is_us_only": "false", "title": "Mysterious Maya Calendar & Mural Uncovered ", "url": "http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/news/history-archaeology-news/maya-art-calendar-vin/", "country_code_deny_list": [], "allowUserEmbed": "True", "related": { "link": [ { "url": "http://on.natgeo.com/KQHQWq", "name": "Full Story of the Maya Find From National Geographic News" }, { "url": "http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/national-geographic-magazine/id418671597", "name": "National Geographic Magazine on the iPad" } ] }, "credit": "2012 National Geographic", "smil": "http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/data/xml/maya-art-calendar-vin.smil", "country_code_allow_list": [], "HTML5src": "/video/player/media-mp4/maya-art-calendar-vin/mp4/variant-playlist.m3u8", "still": "http://video.nationalgeographic.com/exposure/core_media/ngphoto/image/52963_0_616x346.jpg", "transcript": "Deep in the rain forest of Guatemala, archaeologist\u00a0 and National Geographic grantee William Saturno has discovered a Mayan art gem.
Buried for centuries in the Mayan city of Xult\u00fan,\u00a0where tens of thousands are believed to have lived -- is what may have been a Mayan home or workspace.
Inside on the walls: a well-preserved mural and some mysterious astronomical and calendar symbols.
The rocks chipped away by Saturno were apparently placed there by the Maya as a common practice to fill in structures that were no longer needed.
One wall features a seated king wearing blue feathers-- seen on the far right.
And on the far left, you can see one of three male figures wearing uniform mitre-style head dresses.\u00a0 Such a display of a group has not been seen that way before in Mayan art.
And a third preserved wall, though badly eroded, is dominated by numerical figures, including columns of numbers representing counting and calendar calculation.
Saturno and his team say the symbols reflect a certain world view: that the Maya predicted the world would continue.
While some keep looking for endings in the Mayan calendar, he says the Maya were looking for a guarantee that nothing would change- an entirely different mindset.
The findings are reported in the May 11 issue of the journal Science, and the June issue of National Geographic magazine.
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