Archaeologists delve into the jungle and discover a lost Maya city after 400 years

In Mexico, and more specifically in the jungle heart of the state of In Mexico – deep in the jungle of Chiapas – an international team of archaeologists has discovered Sak-Bahlán, a lost city that for over a century served as the Lacandon Ch’ol Maya stronghold against the Spanish conquest. The find, confirmed by Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), reveals not only a major archaeological site but also a story of resistance that outlived chroniclers and armies before being swallowed by the forest.

Sak-Bahlán – “Land of the White Jaguar” in Maya – was founded in 1586, shortly after Spanish troops took Lakam Tun, or “Great Rock,” the capital of the Lacandon Ch’ol Maya. From then on it became a refuge for rebels who traded with towns allied to the Spanish while at the same time raiding and plundering them. It was a precarious balance that eventually collapsed at the end of the 17th century.

For decades, Spanish soldiers failed to locate the city. It wasn’t until a leader from another Maya group offered to escort Catholic priests to Sak-Bahlán – hoping to convert its inhabitants – that the city’s location was revealed. As journalist Lizzie Wade noted in Smithsonian Magazine, perhaps that benefactor “had simply had enough.”

Early negotiations fell apart when several Lacandon leaders, sent to Guatemala to meet colonial authorities, fell ill and died. In 1695, with the help of Maya allies, Spanish troops occupied the settlement without a fight. They renamed it Nuestra Señora de los Dolores, and by 1721 it was already abandoned.

Technology, archives and revisionism in search of the impossible

This rediscovery was no accident. INAH archaeologist Josuhé Lozada Toledo combed through 17th-century Spanish chronicles, including a letter from the Castilian friar Diego de Rivas. The priest described reaching Sak-Bahlán after four days trekking through jungle and two more by canoe along the Lacantún River. All this data was fed into a predictive model in ArcGIS Pro – a digital mapping tool – that factored in terrain, vegetation, waterways and colonial-era travel speeds.

“By combining all these variables, I was able to map out a proposal and get an approximate range of where Sak-Bahlán could be,” Lozada Toledo explained in an INAH statement. That joint model led archaeologists Brent Woodfill, Yuko Shiratori and Lozada Toledo to the Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve, on the border between Mexico and Guatemala.

There they uncovered remains consistent with colonial descriptions: stone structures, obsidian tools, ceramic fragments and the ruins of a small Spanish church.

Last stand, near final fall

Sak-Bahlán – rendered in Spanish as Sac Balam – was the penultimate Maya capital to resist conquest. Only Nojpetén, capital of the Itzá Maya, fell later in 1697 to Spanish forces. “Since the Maya were never centralized, it’s very difficult to conquer entire regions,” archaeologist Maxine Oland of the University of Massachusetts Amherst told Science.

At the time of conquest, the Maya operated as independent city-states, with shifting alliances and internal rivalries. This meant the Spanish advance was a slow drip of isolated victories rather than a sweeping takeover.

According to Smithsonian Magazine, the archaeological team has so far completed two preliminary excavation seasons. Next steps include using LiDAR technology to map structures hidden under the jungle canopy and searching for metal artifacts that could shed light on Maya trade networks.

“This discovery enriches the history of Chiapas and shows the dignity, identity and strength of Indigenous groups. It also highlights the archaeology of everyday people – their customs, daily life and struggles,” Lozada Toledo said.

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