A volcanic eruption covered the structure centuries ago

Oct 11, 2011 20:21 GMT  ·  By

A 6-foot (1.8-meter) wide sacbe was discovered in El Savador recently, buried under a thick layer of hardened volcanic ash. A sacbe is the Mayan term for a white road. This particular one led in and out of a Maya village, but was buried by an eruption about 1,400 years ago.

The team of investigators that made the discovery was led by experts at the University of Colorado in Boulder. The researchers say that the ironic aspect of their finding is that the road itself was made of white ash collected from a previous volcanic eruption.

Archaeologists with the research team say that the village's name was Ceren. It is located near what is modern-day San Salvador, and was discovered fairly recently, in 1978. According to UCB professor Payson Sheets, the word sacbe is Yucatan Maya for either “white way” or “white road.”

Centuries ago, the term was largely used to describe stone-lined roads that were also paved with lime plaster. Unlike other types of roads, sacbe were generally used to connected towns, or plazas within the same town. Another use for them was connecting temples and other religious buildings.

The Ceren sacbe is very interesting because it does not have paving stone borders. Rather, its edges are marked by canals that most likely carried water, on either side of the structure, Science Blog reports.

Over the years, this settlement became known as the best-preserved Maya village in the entire Central America. This road was discovered by accident, as investigators were digging a 17-foot (5.1-meter) pit through the volcanic ash at the borders of the town.

“Until our discovery, these roads were only known from the Yucatan area in Mexico and all were built with stone linings, which generally preserved well,” explains Sheets, who holds an appointment as a professor in the UCB Anthropology Department.

“It took the unusual preservation at Ceren to tell us the Maya also made them without stone. I’d like to say we saw some anomaly in the ground-penetrating radar data that guided us to the Ceren sacbe, but that was not the case. This was a complete surprise,” he adds.

Measurements conducted thus far indicate that the road is at least 148 feet (45 meters) long, though it could extend even further. Given the depth at which it's buried, researchers will have to dig more test pits in order to figure out its exact layout.

According to Sheets' best guess, the road is leading to two ceremonial structures that are built about 100 feet (30 meters) away from the edges of town. Previous excavations indicate that the area was being used to conduct rituals, and maybe even dispense food to the nearby community.

“We know there was a celebration going on when the eruption hit. And we’ve found no evidence of anyone going back to their houses, gathering up valuables, and fleeing, because all the household doors were tied shut,” the team leader adds.

“We think people may have left the plaza and run south, possibly on the sacbe, because the danger was to the north,” he adds, referring to the moment of the volcanic eruption that covered the city.