Archaeology breakthrough as researchers discover lost 'Land of the White Jaguar'

Archaeologists think they have found the remains of a centuries-old Maya rebel (Image: Josuhé Lozada/CINAH Chiapas))

Archaeologists have stumbled upon what they think are the remains of a centuries-old Maya rebel stronghold in Mexico. Deep within the jungles of Chiapas, researchers from Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) believe they have finally uncovered the long-lost Maya city of Sak-Bahlán, known as the 'Land of the White Jaguar.'

The site was once inhabited by the Lakandon-Ch'ol, Maya rebels who fought against Spanish rule. These Maya, remembered as the last rebels of Chiapas in southern Mexico, resisted Spanish conquest. For decades, the site’s exact location remained a mystery to archaeologists — until now.

Archaeologists have already spent two field seasons mapping and excavating the site (Image: Josuhé Lozada, INAH Chiapas)

Not long after the Maya rebels were defeated, Spanish troops took control of the city and gave it a new name: Nuestra Señora de Dolores, which means "Our Lady of Sorrows" in Spanish.

Over time, the city was deserted — by 1721, it was completely abandoned. Although the exact location of the city was forgotten, written records like official documents and personal letters from that era still mentioned it, keeping its memory alive.

By combining historical documents with modern mapping tools like Geographic Information System (GIS) technology, a team led by archaeologist Josuhé Lozada Toledo from Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) identified what they think is the most likely location of the ancient stronghold.

In a 1695 letter, de Rivas described the city of Sak-Bahlán as sitting on a flat plain near a bend in the Lacantún River, which flows through the state of Chiapas. Later, in 1698, de Rivas detailed a journey: a four-day march with soldiers from the city to the river, followed by two days traveling by canoe to where the Lacantún and Pasión rivers meet. 

Lozada Toledo considered the difficulty of the terrain and how much cargo a person might be carrying to estimate the actual distances de Rivas covered during those journeys, reports Live Science.

"By combining all these variables, I was able to … obtain an approximate range of where the Sak-Bahlán site could be located," Lozada Toledo said in a translated INAH statement.

"It was the most arduous field trip I've ever had in my life, but in the end, we found the archaeological evidence, right at the spot I had marked," Lozada Toledo said.