Maya Funeral Urn Depicting Corn God Unearthed by Archaeologists

Archaeologists have unearthed an ancient Maya urn featuring a depiction of a pre-Hispanic corn deity.

The artifact was uncovered during archaeological rescue investigations carried out by Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) amid works for Section 7 of the Tren Maya (Maya Train) project. This involves the building of an almost 1,000-mile-long railway that traverses Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula—the heart of the ancient Maya civilization—which is rich in antiquities.

Tren Maya is one of the largest and most controversial infrastructure projects in the history of Mexico. It aims to connect the region's popular beach resorts to lesser-known inland locations—including historic Maya sites—that represent some of the poorest parts of southern Mexico.

While thousands of ancient Maya artifacts and structures have been uncovered during work on the project, critics have raised concerns about damage and destruction to archaeological remains, as well as the local environment.

Sections 1 to 4 of the Maya Train opened in December 2023, while sections 5 to 7 are scheduled to open in February 2024. Section 7, along which the Maya funeral urn was found, connects the stations of Chetumal Airport and Escárcega. The artifact, which is made of clay, contains the remains of an individual, according to INAH.

The urn features an anthropomorphic figure that appears to depict a pre-Hispanic god of corn in his representation as a growing cob. The INAH experts say that similar images of this Maya deity have been documented in figurines from the Mexican island of Jaina, which lies just off the coast of the state of Campeche in the Yucatán.

The urn also contains features that appear to represent a Maya symbol associated with the wind and the divine breath.

In addition, the lid of the urn contains a representation of an owl—a bird that had symbolic meaning in the ancient Maya world. The owl was considered a creature of omen and a symbol of war during the Classic period, around A.D. 250 to A.D. 900 of Mesoamerican history, as recorded by similar vessels.

The urn corresponds with the "Paaktzatz" style of vessels, which were made between A.D. 680 and A.D. 770 in the area of Río Bec—a Maya archaeological site located in the southern portion of Campeche state.

"For the most part, these sorts of vessels appear to be what we call 'cache' vessels: they hold ritual or sacred objects," Stephen Houston, a professor of anthropology and the history of art at Brown University, who was not involved with the latest findings, told Newsweek.

According to INAH, the urn discovered during the Tren Maya works—as shown in the image above—contains human remains. But Houston said he suspects this does not represent a burial.

"Rather, it's a foundational or dedicational deposit. In any case, to fit in that urn, human remains would have to be dried out, the body disassembled or reprocessed in some way," he said.

Houston's colleague, Andrew Scherer, an associate professor of anthropology and archaeology at Brown, told Newsweek that the Maya did not practice cremation during the Classic period—at least in the lowlands—when this urn was made.

"There is no case to my knowledge where there was the intent to reduce the bodies to cremains—ash and small bits of heavily burnt bone. The Maya did not seem to do that until the Postclassic period for the most part."

"While I do not know how often the Paaktzatz vessels contain human remains, Maya cache vessels often do—usually the remains of children. That would likely be the case here since, as Professor Houston notes, the vessel is too small to contain an adult body."

The urn was found alongside another vessel that also features a representation of an owl, leading archaeologists to believe that the items were part of an offering associated with a pre-Hispanic construction.

Update 2/7/24, 11:32 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional comments from Stephen Houston and Andrew Scherer.

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