A Mural at Ancient City of Calakmul May Be the Oldest Known Image of Maya Hero Juun Ajaw

ARTnews reports that archaeologists Daniel Salazar Lama, Ana García Barrios, and Benjamin Esqueda Lazo De La Vega argue a mural at the ancient Maya city of Calakmul depicts the mythical hero Juun Ajaw, potentially making it one of the oldest known images of that figure. Their conclusions, based on three years of research and published in IdeAs (the online journal of the Institute of the Americas), reassess a scene long thought to show a spear-bearing warrior; the mural was removed for conservation in 2004, and the team used advanced imaging to reconstruct it and its architectural context. The mural was found in an early part of the complex—an underground vault coated in stucco to resemble a cave—an environment linked in Maya cosmology to the threshold between the human world and the underworld. The researchers note details such as the figure’s partially submerged lower body in swirling water and Olmec-like facial features, and they propose that rainfall may have been channeled into the structure to create a watery ritual setting reenacting Juun Ajaw’s hunting narrative; Calakmul’s origins date to around 500–400 BCE, though it was most powerful in the 7th and 8th centuries.

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