Uncovering the Citadel of El Pilar
Mon, Mar 21, 2016
An unusual, isolated ancient Maya complex has archaeologists digging for answers.
Uncovering the Citadel of El Pilar
Walking through this ancient Central American jungle landscape might be a puzzling, yet surprisingly delightful experience for a first-time visitor. You don’t clearly see the well-defined, great stone pyramids, ball-courts, temples, and other monuments so often attributed to great ancient Maya centers. But you see a tropical terrain that is anything but flat. There is a jungle-shrouded mound here, another one over there. A well-planned walking path winds through what one could describe as the Maya version of the Garden of Eden. Like the very first 18th and 19th century explorers of the Maya world, you see what could be ancient structures still hidden beneath their canopy shroud. Some of them have been partially exposed, betraying what might lie beneath, leaving the rest to the imagination. You soon realize that this place is very different than any other encountered in the Maya world. Today, archaeologists call this place El Pilar, which means “watering basinâ€, named for the abundance of streams around it and below its escarpment.
http://popular-archaeology.com/issue/spring-2016/article/uncovering-the-citadel-of-el-pilar
