CAMPECHE.- A fragmentary mural hidden within one of Calakmul’s monumental structures has provided researchers with what may be one of the earliest known representations of Juun Ajaw, a mythical hero deeply rooted in ancient Maya tradition.
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Archaeologist Daniel Salazar Lama presented the results of three years of research into the painting during a lecture held on July 17, 2026, at the Museum of Maya Architecture in Campeche. The mural, preserved inside Structure II at Calakmul, is currently considered the oldest pictorial remains documented at the ancient Maya city.
Although only traces of the original composition survive, digital technology has allowed researchers to recover much of the scene and examine how it once functioned within its architectural setting.
Using photogrammetry, digitized drawing and virtual architectural modeling, Salazar Lama and his team created a detailed reconstruction of the mural and the chamber in which it was painted. Their analysis led them to identify the central figure as Juun Ajaw, shown taking part in what appears to be a hunting scene set in water.
The discovery offers a rare glimpse into how the ancient Maya transformed mythological narratives into visual experiences, combining painted imagery, architecture and ritual meaning.
The lecture was titled Hunting in the Water, Fishing in the Cave: Juun Ajaw, a Mythical Hero in a Preclassic Mural at Calakmul.
A mythical hero in a watery landscape
Juun Ajaw is a figure associated with Maya mythology and heroic narratives. His appearance in the Calakmul mural is especially significant because the painting dates to the Preclassic period, making it an unusually early example of the hero’s representation.
The scene appears to show Juun Ajaw hunting in an aquatic environment. Researchers found that the imagery cannot be understood separately from the room that contains it.
According to the investigation, the architectural space was designed to evoke the interior of a cave. Caves held profound importance in the Maya worldview, where they were often understood as entrances to the underworld, places of creation and sources of water and fertility.
By placing the painted scene within a cave-like chamber, the artists created an environment in which architecture and imagery reinforced one another. The visitor was not simply looking at a mythical episode but entering a space intended to make that story physically and ritually present.
Myth, architecture and ritual time
Researchers also identified a sign in the mural that may be connected to the Maya 260-day calendar.
The possible calendar marker raises intriguing questions about whether the event depicted in the painting was linked to a particular ritual date. If confirmed, it would suggest that the ancient Maya were already associating mythical episodes with specific moments in ceremonial time during the Preclassic period.
Similar connections between myth and calendar dates have been documented elsewhere in the ancient Maya world. The Calakmul mural, however, offers important new evidence that these relationships were being expressed through both painting and architecture at an early stage.
Rather than treating myths as stories outside ordinary time, the Maya may have situated them within carefully defined places and calendrical cycles. The chamber, the painted scene and the possible date sign would therefore have worked together as parts of a single ritual composition.
Reconstructing a damaged image
The mural’s condition made traditional documentation difficult. Much of the painted surface has been lost or is no longer clearly visible, leaving researchers to work with incomplete fragments.
Digital recording techniques allowed the team to study details that might otherwise be overlooked. Photogrammetry was used to build accurate three-dimensional models from overlapping photographs, while digital drawing helped isolate surviving lines, colors and forms.
Virtual modeling also made it possible to place the reconstructed image back within its original architectural context.
This approach has given researchers a more complete understanding of how the mural may once have appeared and how viewers would have encountered it inside Structure II.
The research forms part of a broader project documenting and analyzing Calakmul’s Substructure II C. Salazar Lama began the initiative in 2020 during his postdoctoral work in France and now directs it in collaboration with the National Institute of Anthropology and History, known as INAH, and the French organizations Archaïos and the Center for Mexican and Central American Studies.
Specialists from Mexico, Spain, France and Italy have participated in the project.
Years of research in the Maya region
Salazar Lama has studied Maya and Mesoamerican art and iconography since 2011. His work has taken him to archaeological sites across the Maya region, including Balamkú, Becán, Chicanná, Hormiguero, Río Bec, El Tigre and Calakmul.
His research has appeared in international academic journals and books published in Mexico, France, Spain, Guatemala, Poland and the United States. Among his recent publications is a volume devoted to the monumental stucco frieze at Balamkú.
The presentation in Campeche was organized by Mexico’s Ministry of Culture, INAH and the INAH Campeche Center. It was moderated by Adriana Velázquez Morlet, director of the INAH Campeche Center.
The identification of Juun Ajaw at Calakmul adds another layer to the understanding of the city’s early artistic and religious life. More than an isolated painted fragment, the mural reveals how Maya artists brought together mythology, ritual time and sacred architecture to create an immersive visual world.
