At the site of Xultún in northern Guatemala, a team from Boston University has uncovered the oldest-known astronomical tables of the Maya, which were incised and painted on the walls of a room in a 1,200-year-old residential building. The room, thought to have been a working space for scribes, had been built with a stone roof. Human figures, including a Maya king, also decorate the walls. The calculations were probably used to plan public ceremonies and keep records during the ninth century, when political turmoil swept through the Maya world. Wall painting may have seemed like a more permanent option than Maya codices, or bark-paper books.  You can tour the room at National Geographic Daily News.

A partial figurine of a Mesoamerican ballplayer has been uncovered near Oaxaca, Mexico. It was found in an area dated to between 1399 B.C. and 899 B.C. Scholars had thought that the game had not reached this part of Mexico at that time. “This discovery re-emphasizes how the ancient Mixtecs were active participants in larger Mesoamerican phenomenon,” said Jeffrey Blomster of George Washington University.

A new 3D virtual model of the Giza Plateau has been created by a software design firm, Harvard University, and Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts. Existing excavation data was used to reproduce the buildings’ ancient colors, inscriptions, textures, and the artifacts, making it possible to trace the development of the site across different eras. American Egyptologist George Andrew Reisner (1867-1942) led an expedition to the Giza Plateau for Harvard and the Museum of Fine Arts. His records, including thousands of photographic glass plate negatives, diary pages, manuscripts, maps, and diagrams, have been digitized and made available as part of the project.

A sonar scan in Northern Ireland’s murky Lough Foyle during a search for a missing person produced an image that resembled the wreckage of a World War II submarine, but divers say the anomaly is just a rock outcrop covered with debris. “There is no photograph to confirm this due to poor water quality – but diver and sonar images lead to the conclusion that there is nothing of significance on the bed of the lough,” said Environment Minister Alex Attwood.

In northern New Zealand, a Maori site consisting of hangi pits, fire scoops, post holes, and stone mounds has been dated to between 1230 and 1275 A.D. Analysis of the plant microfossils showed that the land had been cleared by fire before the land had been farmed. “We were surprised at how old the site was and also the fact that the site is so far away from the coast, which is quite rare for Northland,” said Sarah Phear of the Historic Places Trust. The early dates suggest that the land could have been cleared by the first generations of people to arrive in New Zealand from Polynesia.

Border patrol agents working in Arizona’s Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument made two archaeological discoveries this year. The first site was a pot known as an olla, which was used to keep water cool. It had been stored under a shady rock outcrop. The second site was similar – several pots were found at the entrance of a cave. In both cases, the agents photographed the objects and reported what they had found to park officials.

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Friday, May 11, 2012. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

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