La Muerta is a

Maya Maya may refer to: Civilizations * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (Ethiopia), a populat ...

archaeological site in the northern Petén region of

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

, located between the sites of

El Mirador El Mirador (which translates as "the lookout", "the viewpoint", or "the belvedere") is a large pre-Columbian Middle and Late Preclassic (1000 BC - 250 AD) Mayan settlement, located in the north of the modern department of El Petén, Guatemal ...

and

El Tintal El Tintal is a Maya archaeological site in the northern Petén region of Guatemala, about northeast of the modern-day settlement of Carmelita, with settlement dating to the Preclassic and Classic periods. It is close to the better known sit ...

. It is located on a promontory south of the El Tigre complex of El Mirador, and it is considered a satellite of that city. La Muerta was inhabited during the Early to Late Classic Period. The site has been extensively looted. Although the precise origin of the name is unknown, the site takes its name from when it was used as a gum-gatherers' camp, the name meaning "the dead (woman or thing)" in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

. La Muerta was investigated by archaeologist

Richard D. Hansen Richard D. Hansen is an American archaeologist who is an adjunct professor of anthropology at the University of Utah. Career Hansen is a specialist on the ancient Maya civilization and directs the Mirador Basin Project, which investigates a circ ...

in the 1980s. Some of the

roof comb Roof comb (or roof-comb) is the structure that tops a pyramid in monumental Mesoamerican architecture. Examination of the sections and iconography of Maya civilization roof-combs indicates that each icon had specific sacred meanings. Typically, th ...

s of the structures remain in good condition. The site is divided into North and South Groups, located approximately apart. Eleven residential areas have been identified within these two groups.

Structures

Structure A1 is a temple with a north-facing stairway. The building measures by and is high, with walls built of

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

. The structure has been severely damaged by looters. During archaeological investigations of the building, a damaged but finely crafted

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...

face was excavated. Structure A2 is a

pyramid A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilat ...

immediately to the west of Structure A1 and has been badly damaged by a combination of natural erosion and looting. Archaeologists have completely excavated the interior of the structure. The structure has six

vaulted In architecture, a vault (French ''voûte'', from Italian ''volta'') is a self-supporting arched form, usually of stone or brick, serving to cover a space with a ceiling or roof. As in building an arch, a temporary support is needed while ring ...

rooms of different sizes with fine stucco floors. The walls had been partially faced with stucco which showed traces of red paint. The building had stairways on the north and south sides, these were flanked by poorly preserved sculpted masks that had traces of red and blue paint. Investigations of Structure A2 have revealed abundant ceramics dating to both the Early and Late Classic. Structure 2 at La Muerta is one of the most unusual Maya buildings in the northern Petén region, with a two-level subterranean labyrinth.

Monuments

Monument 1 is a sculptured

stela A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ''stelæ''), whe ...

that was found in the North Group. It was in a very poor state of preservation, being badly eroded and broken into more than 900 fragments of various sizes. It is likely that the monument was deliberately destroyed in antiquity. The stela bears the image of a head in profile, wearing a mask. The face is above the representation of a large monster head with upper teeth. A column of at least six

hieroglyphs A hieroglyph (Greek for "sacred carvings") was a character of the ancient Egyptian writing system. Logographic scripts that are pictographic in form in a way reminiscent of ancient Egyptian are also sometimes called "hieroglyphs". In Neoplatonis ...

is also present. The main figure is thought to be that of a

deity A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greate ...

. Stela 2 is an isolated monument located about north of the path leading to El Mirador. It is a limestone stela measuring tall, and is divided into upper and lower portions by a worn depression. The stela has several carved circular cavities measuring roughly across and deep but is otherwise plain, it may originally have been covered in painted stucco.Suyuc et al 2005, p.79.

Notes

References

* * {{coord missing, Guatemala Muerta Archaeological sites in Guatemala Former populated places in Guatemala