Archaeology
Mesoamerican “Underworld” was swallowed by seismic landslide
The Mesoamerican site of Mitla was swallowed by a seismic landslide event, according to a new study by the Lyobaa Project.
Mitla, known as Mictlán in Nahuatl, means the “place of the dead” or “Underworld”. Mitla was established in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley to serve as a burial complex for elites during the Classic Period (AD 100-650).
The site emerged as the primary religious centre of the Zapotec people, however, by around AD 1000, Mitla and the surrounding region was conquered by the Mixtec. As a result, the architectural elements of Mitla’s buildings reflect a blend of influences from both Mesoamerican cultures.
A recent geological study conducted by researchers from the National Institute of Anthropology and History, the National Autonomous University of Mexico, and the ARX Project Association, has uncovered evidence to suggest that Mitla was engulfed by a massive seismic landslide in the 15th century AD.
In a collaboration with INAH archaeologists, a geophysical study using ground penetrating radar was conducted within the Arroyo and the Adobe cluster group of structures. In parallel, researchers used seismic records of natural subsoil vibrations to obtain the resonance frequency and the underground velocity structure.
A researcher from the project told HeritageDaily “These parameters allow us to understand and predict the seismic amplification that can occur during an event of this type, and to establish, for safety and risk purposes, to which buildings are subject. It should be noted that San Pablo Villa de Mitla is located in the foothills of the Sierra Norte, in the far east of the Tlacolula Valley, a seismically active region.”
The analysis discovered that the subsoil in the Mitla area contains irregular layers composed of deposits and materials transported by a massive landslide event.
This confirms research by geologist Víctor Hugo Garduño Monroy, who suggested that the settlement area of Mitla was buried under a large deposit of rock avalanches sometime during the Postclassic period (AD 900-1520).
The study believes that a magnitude 6 or 7 earthquake likely caused the landslide, which is consistent with a reference in the Telleriano-Remensis Codex that recounts the ground violently shaking in AD 1495 in the Oaxaca Valley area.
The event must have been decisive in the decline and partial abandonment of Mitla prior to the arrival of the Spanish.
Header Image Credit : Mitla – Aleksandar Todorovic
Sources : INAH
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
Archaeologists from the APSARA National Authority have uncovered a guardian statue at the Banteay Prey Nokor temple complex in Kompong Cham, Cambodia.
Known locally as the temple of “Wat Nokor in Khum of Kompong Siem”, or “Wat Angkor”, Banteay Prey Nokor was constructed during the reign of Jayavarman VII (AD 1181–1218), the first king devoted to Buddhism in the Khmer Empire.
The complex covers an area of 37 acres and consists of a central tower surrounded by four laterite wall enclosures made from sandstone and laterite.
In addition to being the largest ancient temple complex in Kampong Cham Province, it has several distinguishing features. One of the most notable is its construction from black sandstone, which sets it apart from other temples of the period, typically built from brick or reddish sandstone.
Image Credit : Phouk Chea / Chea Sarith
Archaeologists from the Department of Preservation and Archaeology at the APSARA Authority recently excavated one of the gateways of Banteay Prey Nokor, clearing away layers of rubble from the collapsed upper structure.
Upon removing the rubble material, a guardian door statue was uncovered to the right of the eastern entrance to the gateway. The statue is broken into six pieces – breaking at the neck, the left forearm, the waist, and below the knees of both legs.
According to the researchers, the statue, which originally stood at a height of around 1.6 metres, is of the Bayon style, in reference to the Bayon state temple of Jayavarman VII at the centre of Jayavarman’s capital, Angkor Thom.
“The sandstone gate guardian will now be stored at the Preah Norodom Sihanouk-Angkor Museum,” Angkor Wat’s heritage police said in a statement. “It will be preserved and studied further.”
Header Image Credit : Phouk Chea / Chea Sarith
Sources : APSARA National Authority
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
Archaeologists from the State Office for Monument Preservation and Archaeology (LDA) of Saxony-Anhalt have rediscovered the Mallerbach Chapel at the site of the Kaltenborn monastery.
Between 1524 to 1525, a large number of peasants, urban lower classes, and lesser nobles living in the German-speaking areas in Central Europe rebelled against a combination of economic, social, and religious factors. These include:
Economic hardship and inequality: Peasants faced heavy burdens from taxes, dues, and rents imposed by landlords, the church, and secular rulers.
Feudal oppression: Many peasants grew increasingly resentful of the limitations placed on their freedoms by feudal lords, including restrictions on hunting, fishing, and access to communal lands.
Religious influence: The Reformation inspired many peasants who saw in it a call for social and economic reform against a corrupt church.
Legal grievances: Peasants sought greater control over local governance and justice. They were frustrated by the arbitrary decisions made by their lords and demanded more influence over the laws and rules that governed their daily lives.
Image Credit : LDA
Following the outbreak of the Peasants’ War, insurgents from the nearby villages of Riestedt and Emseloh plundered the Kaltenborn monastery near Allstedt in the German district of Mansfeld-Südharz, leading to the monastery’s decline and eventual dissolution in 1538.
According to a press statement by the LDA: “It’s destruction – an act of rebellion against the Cistercian convent of Naundorf, which was in charge of the Chapel of St. Mary and to which the Allstedt residents were subject to taxes – can be seen as the first flare-up and harbinger of the coming uprising of the ‘common man’ against the authorities.”
Recent excavations at the monastery site have located the 12th/13th century Mallerbach chapel, a sacred place of worship for pilgrims who came to witness a weeping image of the Virgin Mary.
Archaeologists have uncovered the original floor plan of the chapel, which measures around 17 metres in length with a rectangular choir and semicircular apse. Excavations have also found the altar foundations, as well as traces of burning from the time of the German Peasants’ War.
Header Image Credit : LDA
Sources : State Office for Monument Preservation and Archaeology (LDA)
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
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