The head, likely part of a sculpture, is adorned with a snake-shaped helmet featuring an open mouth and a feathered headdress. This artifact is valuable as it sheds light on the appearance of ancient Mayan warriors.
The excavations preceded the upcoming construction of a railway intended to enhance the infrastructure of a popular tourist city in Mexico. Researchers from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) meticulously studied the landscape to avoid damaging numerous ancient artifacts.
The scientists focused their attention on Chichanchob, also known as the Casa-Colorada complex. This is a rectangular temple-platform built in the Puuc style, located near the ancient observatory of El Caracol.
As confirmed by the lead researcher Diego Prieto Hernandez, his team discovered a stone head of a Mayan warrior with a snake helmet and a feathered headdress. The head measures 33 centimeters in height and 28 centimeters in width, and scholars believe it was carved during the Late Classic period (600-800 AD).
Inside the Chichanchob temple, where the sculptural head was found, researchers also came across carved hieroglyphs. These inscriptions recount the history of the rulers of Chichen Itza and possibly the nearby city of Ek’ Balam. Additionally, the team uncovered a carved date from the Mayan calendar corresponding to the year 869 AD, as reported by Heritage Daily.
The city of Chichen Itza, located in the northern part of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, was founded by the Mayan tribes around 455 AD. At its peak, the city spanned over 10 square kilometers and was home to approximately 35,000 residents.
The most famous structures of Chichen Itza, whose ruins can still be visited today, include the nine-tiered pyramid of Kukulkan, the Temple of Warriors, and the Great Ball Court, which measures 135 meters in length.