It was probably used as a marker for the entrance to a meeting space; it is estimated to date from the Preclassic period (2500 BC-200 AD). Credit: INAH
Specialists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) have unearthed in the ejido of Sierra Papacal, Yucatán, a stone sculpture with the features of an elderly lord that served as an access marker to an elite meeting enclosure—a finding that redefines the understanding of the social and ritual organization of early Maya communities in the northwestern region of the peninsula. The discovery is part of the archaeological salvage project linke…
It was probably used as a marker for the entrance to a meeting space; it is estimated to date from the Preclassic period (2500 BC-200 AD). Credit: INAH
Specialists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) have unearthed in the ejido of Sierra Papacal, Yucatán, a stone sculpture with the features of an elderly lord that served as an access marker to an elite meeting enclosure—a finding that redefines the understanding of the social and ritual organization of early Maya communities in the northwestern region of the peninsula. The discovery is part of the archaeological salvage project linked to the construction works of the Mérida-Progreso Bypass (Section 2), as part of the freight infrastructure of the Tren Maya.
The piece, a limestone sculpture approximately 0.45 meters in height, was found attached to the north side of the foundation of a construction with an ovoid floor plan, measuring 5.8 meters in length, 4.30 meters in width, and 0.60 meters in height. This platform, characterized by a double wall made of limestone rocks faced inward and outward with an average width of one meter, once supported a structure with perishable walls and roofs, of which only the stone foundation remains.
The anthropomorphic face, which researchers identify as the representation of an elderly lord, exhibits facial modeling of remarkable rawness and expressiveness: deeply sunken eye sockets, a broad flat nose, and thick lips outlined by a central groove that, in turn, accentuates the prominence of the chin. Its contextual placement is key to interpreting its function; it was found behind the north jamb of the entrance to the enclosure, protruding from the wide wall that is inferred to have served as an interior bench.
The placement of the sculpture at the entrance to the enclosure would indicate that this space did not function as a dwelling. Credit: Erik Reséndiz / INAH
This architectural arrangement is not a product of chance but was deliberately conceived to signal the entrance to a restricted area, a space that, according to material evidence, was approached with ceremonial respect upon entry.
The main access to the enclosure is located on the western side, an orientation suggesting a cardinal alignment privileging the trajectory of sunlight. The entrance, 0.80 meters wide, is delineated by two large rocks acting as jambs, forming an opening that led to a small interior space measuring only 3 meters along its north-south axis and 2.5 meters east-west.
The limited usable surface and the presence of the perimeter bench-wall reinforce the hypothesis that this place was not intended for domestic or everyday activities, but rather for meetings of a select group, possibly for the discussion of matters of collective importance or the performance of ritual practices.
Mayan sculpture depicting an “elderly man” discovered in the ejido of Sierra Papacal, Yucatán. Credit: INAH
The salvage excavation, extending along the right side of the railway under construction and including the investigation of a group of at least 15 structures located less than two kilometers from the previously recorded sites Papacal 1 and San Francisco 1, has allowed archaeologists to discern various construction and occupation phases in the area.
These superimposed phases indicate a sequence of functional changes in the architectural complex and reveal long-term development that began, according to ceramic material recovered during the excavations, in the Preclassic period (2500 B.C.–200 A.D.), a timeframe to which the newly discovered sculpture likely also belongs.
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Stratigraphic analyses suggest that the first documented construction stage consisted of a large esplanade, 13 meters long by 8 meters wide, with a south-north orientation axis. On this surface, a charcoal trace was identified, possibly associated with the presence of a hearth, indicating human activity in that area. Contemporaneous with this esplanade was the ovoid foundation where the sculpture was placed, suggesting an integrated spatial planning during the Preclassic period.
The research team, led by archaeologists Manuel Pérez Rivas, Susana Echeverría Castillo, Wendy Lorena Pérez Mezquita, and David Alejandro Ferman Valor, will proceed to transfer the piece to the project’s laboratory for full conservation and specialized analysis. The ongoing research will be enriched with ethnographic data and comparative studies from other archaeological investigations published on markers found in ceremonial or meeting enclosures.
In this regard, parallels will be drawn with ritual artifacts from later periods, such as effigy incense burners made of ceramic reported in temples of the Postclassic period (900–1521 A.D.), which constitute tangible evidence of the existence of ritual or meeting enclosures since formative stages of Maya culture.
This sculptural marker of the elderly lord is not an isolated object but a key component of an architectural complex intended for specific and high-ranking community activities. Its discovery will decisively contribute to supporting comparative analyses, offering a more precise approach that will help to understand the use of space and the nature of the activities carried out in these architectural complexes, shedding new light on the socio-political and religious practices of the ancient Maya of the Preclassic period in northwestern Yucatán.