February 11, 2016
More Unique Artifacts Uncovered at “Jaguar City” Honduras
The National Geographic team has dug up 200 artifacts from a site in Honduras now known as the Jaguar City. Ornate sculptors of animals, vessels, metates that may have been thrones have been uncovered. Metate legs show Maya style sky bands and unknown glyph styles. The artifacts had been placed on a red clay floor around the sculture of a vulture. Some vessels had death god imagery on them. Signs of mutual breaking of artifacts when the city was abandoned have also been found. The team has found earthworks, plazas, pyramids, irrigation canals, reservoirs and mounds. The culture that created this site is unknown, but it is Maya related in some of its art work, and (my note), some of the art work looks more similiar to Central American art from Nicaragua and Costa Rica. The city was discovered by using lidar technology to peer through heavily canopied jungle from above.
Ancient Origins has the story with photos here;
http://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/hundreds-intriguing-artifacts-unearthed-ancient-white-city-ruins-honduras-020738
National Geographic has more photos and a slideshow here of the digs;
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/02/160209-honduras-lost-city-archaeology-discovery-jaguar-sculptures-photos/
(My note: There is a lot of controversy surrounding this dig because of the belief the team was claiming they had found the legendary “White City” of fable. And some folks disliked the Honduran government seeing this as a tourist attraction. At no point did the professional team digging there now make this claim. And all interesting archaeological sites in Mesoamerica are promoted by their host governments for tourism. There is the concern that this pristine wilderness may be ruined by this kind of promotion. And that is a real concern. But archaeologists dig in pristine areas all the time to uncover the ancient history of the Americas. This is real archaeology. The finds are illuminating this culture which has many ties far afield. And the team has announced they have found an even larger site nearby.)
Mike Ruggeri
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