In Belize, a 'Major Find' of Mayan Ruler's Tomb

Texas archaeologists have uncovered the first tomb ever found of a Mayan ruler in the ancient city of Caracol, located in modern Belize. The team from the University of Houston discovered the tomb of Te K'ab Chaak beneath another burial chamber that had been found decades ago, reports the New York Times. Te K'ab Chaak, who took the throne in AD 331 and died around AD 350, founded a royal dynasty in the ancient city, per a news release from the university.

• "They've found a very early ruler, so that's very important, and he's claimed to be the founder of a dynasty," archaeologist Gary Feinman of the Field Museum of Chicago, who was not involved in the excavation, tells the Times. "That's a major find."
• The husband-and-wife team of Arlen and Diane Chase, who run the Caracol Archaeological Project out of the University of Houston, have been digging at the site for decades, per CBS News.
• "We've never found anyone that we could identify as a ruler at Caracol before, so that in itself was amazing," said Diane Chase. And "double wow," she added, given that the ruler also founded a dynasty that last nearly 500 years after his death. Te K'ab Chaak lived to a relatively old age, was toothless when he died, and had stood about 5-foot-7.
• Caracol is the biggest Mayan archaeological site in Belize, and the UH release notes that the city "was a major political player in Maya history, dominating the southern part of the Yucatan Peninsula from 560 through 680 AD before its abandonment by 900 AD."