The tomb was unearthed at the ruins of Xunantunich, a city on the Mopan river in western Belize that served as a ceremonial center in the final centuries of Maya dominance around to AD.
Archaeologists found the chamber 16ft to 26ft below ground, where it had been hidden under more than a millennium of dirt and debris. Researchers found the tomb as they excavated a central stairway of a large structure: within were the remains of a male adult, somewhere between 20 and 30 years old, lying supine with his head to the south.
In the grave, archaeologists also found jaguar and deer bones, six jade beads, possibly from a necklace, 13 obsidian blades and 36 ceramic vessels.
At the base of the stairway, they found two offering caches that had nine obsidian and 28 chert flints and eccentrics — chipped artefacts that are carved into the shapes of animals, leaves or other symbols. The tomb represents an extraordinary find, if only for its construction. It appears to differ dramatically from other grave sites of the era. The find is the first royal tomb discovered at Xunantunich, and is one of the largest in the country.
Many Maya sites ruled through dynastic families. The family dominated the region for decades in the seventh century, and shifted capital cities over time. The panels are believed to be part of a staircase originally built 26 miles to the south, at the ancient city of Caracol. On another work, he recorded a ball game involving a captured Naranjo leader whom he eventually sacrificed, according to the archaeologist Robert Sharer. The panels also identify a previously unknown ruler from the Mexican site of Calakmul, Awe said.
