CAMPECHE.- A carved monument from the archaeological site of El Palmar in Campeche is changing what scholars know about early Maya history. New archaeological and epigraphic studies have shown that Stela 46, a monument recovered from an architectural complex southwest of the site’s Main Group, contains the earliest Long Count date so far documented in the Maya Lowlands.
Artdaily Recommended · Paid Link
In Pursuit of Ruins
Archaeology, history, and the study of the ancient past
A thoughtful archaeology title for readers interested in ruins, historical memory, ancient cultures, and the ways the past is discovered and interpreted.
See it on Amazon → As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
The date, identified as 8.7.1.0.0, corresponds to A.D. 180. That makes it 112 years older than the date recorded on Stela 29 at Tikal, Guatemala, which dates to A.D. 292 and had long been considered the oldest known Long Count date in the Maya area.
The discovery is the result of two decades of research by the El Palmar Archaeological Project, directed by archaeologists Kenichiro Tsukamoto, of the University of California, Riverside, and Javier López Camacho, of Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History.
Using modern photogrammetry and high-resolution 3D scanning, researchers were able to read details that had remained difficult to study because of the monument’s erosion. Earlier specialists had examined the stela, but the condition of the stone and the limitations of the technology available at the time made a deeper reading impossible.
The new analysis suggests that El Palmar’s ruling lineage may have been one of the longest-lasting dynasties yet recorded in the region. The evidence points to a political history stretching from the Terminal Preclassic period, around 300 B.C. to A.D. 250, through the Terminal Classic period, roughly A.D. 800 to 950.
Stela 46 is not only important for its date. The monument also carries inscriptions linked to enthronement events and shows a ruler wearing a feathered headdress. The figure holds the head of what may be a jaguar, an animal closely associated in Maya thought with the underworld and other symbolic realms.
The stela measures 2.96 meters long by 0.78 meters wide on its front face. Along its sides, it measures 2.96 meters high by 0.62 meters deep. Despite its damaged surface, the monument still preserves enough information to offer a rare look into the political and ritual life of early Maya rulers.
According to the research, published in Ancient Mesoamerica, the ruler’s name is incomplete because of erosion. Scholars have tentatively identified him as Ajaw K’al Ubaah. The inscriptions indicate that he took power in A.D. 131 and, 49 years later, requested the erection of the stela, an act that may have been accompanied by a ritual ceremony.
Archaeological data from the site supports the early date of the monument. Materials recovered from test excavations in the Arcos Group indicate occupation during the Terminal Preclassic period, contemporary with the inauguration of the stela.
The El Palmar Archaeological Project also analyzed Stela 20, a monument erected around the sixth century A.D. That monument provided key information about the origins of the ruling lineage, matching the history recorded on Stela 46. Another monument, Stela 45, now held at the Museum of Maya Archaeology at the San Miguel Fort, records a Long Count date corresponding to A.D. 342 and offers information about royal succession in the fourth century.
Together, these monuments suggest that the early rulers of El Palmar had the resources and authority to establish a dynasty. Their power was expressed not only through carved stelae and altars, but also through the construction of architectural complexes associated with those monuments.
Like Stela 46, Stela 45 also shows erosion, making parts of its text difficult to read. Some of its glyphs may preserve the name of another ruler, tentatively read as Tz’u Chak Ahk.
The research team includes Adriana Velázquez Morlet, archaeologist and director of the INAH Campeche Center; Octavio Esparza Olguín, epigrapher at the National Autonomous University of Mexico; Daniel Salazar, iconographer with the French organization Archaeology, Culture and Heritage Archaïos; and independent archaeologist Luz Evelia Campaña.
El Palmar remains under exploration and is not open to the public. After its restoration in January 2026, Stela 46 was moved to the Museum of Maya Architecture at the Baluarte de la Soledad, where visitors can now see the monument that has pushed the history of the Maya Long Count in the lowlands further back in time.
