Archaeologists in Mexico have uncovered what they consider to be the stays of the final recorded Maya insurgent stronghold, famed for its century-long defiance of Spanish colonization.
Based on historic data, Sak-Bahlán, or the “Land of the White Jaguar,” was the ultimate refuge for the Lakandon-Ch’ol individuals, who fled deeper into the Lacandon Jungle after the seize of their capital, Lakam-Tun, by the Spanish in 1586. Sak-Bahlán endured for practically 110 years, till an expedition led by Friar Pedro de la Concepción alerted Spanish forces to its location in 1695. The stronghold was quickly invaded and renamed Nuestra Señora de Dolores (“Our Woman of Sorrows”).
Its society decimated, the positioning fell into disrepair and, by 1721, into obscurity. Although its location was misplaced, paperwork and letters written across the time of its seizure enshrined its legacy—notably amongst some Lakandon-Ch’ol descendants—as an emblem of Indigenous resistance to Spanish conquest.
“Misplaced” could not be the best phrase. In a current announcement, the multinational Sak-Bahlán Archaeological Challenge mentioned it had doubtless rediscovered the long-sought web site. The challenge is co-directed by Dr. Brent Woodfill of Winthrop College in South Carolina and Dr. Yuko Shiratori of Rissho College in Japan.
An announcement from INAH (Mexico’s Nationwide Institute of Anthropology and Historical past) credited the invention to the indispensable steerage of Josuhé Lozada Toledo, an INAH Chiapas Middle specialist. Lozada Toledo relied on a mix of GIS expertise and the writings of Spanish friar Diego de Rivas to slim the search throughout the Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve, a protected space in present-day Chiapas.
He additionally factored in sensible issues, similar to how a lot cargo an individual might fairly carry throughout untended terrain and the estimated distance de Rivas had traveled, based on the friar’s notes.
“By combining all these variables, I used to be in a position to … acquire an approximate vary of the place the Sak-Bahlán web site might be situated,” Lozada Toledo mentioned. The staff finally reached a web site on the confluence of the Jataté and Ixcán rivers, close to the modern-day border between Mexico and Guatemala.
“It was probably the most arduous area journey I’ve ever had in my life,” the archaeologist mentioned, “however ultimately, we discovered the archaeological proof, proper on the spot I had marked.”
