Locating Sak B’alam: Preliminary Research on the Last City of the Lakandon Ch’ol

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Recent Archaeological Investigations in Chiapas, Mexico" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

According to the ethnohistorical sources, the Lakandon Ch’ol managed to maintain their independence from Spanish colonialism for over a century somewhere in the forest, after the Spanish seizure of their capital in 1586. They founded a new center called Sak B’alam, which was finally conquered by the Spaniards in 1695. Sak B’alam was renamed as Nuestra Señora de los Dolores but abandoned in 1721. After the abandonment, the location of Sak B’alam has been lost to date. Although archaeologists and historians have long attempted to locate Sak B’alam in Selva Lacandon, Chiapas, there is little written information for the location of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores in the Spanish documents. As part of a new research project focused on the historical and archaeological sites related to salt production in the interior Chiapas by Proyecto Arqueológico Sak B’alam, this paper presents results of preliminary research that employs lidar reconnaissance and surveys to locate potential Sak B’alam. The initial survey explored the area by test-pitting excavations in 2023. Results have begun to reveal some occupations in the preconquest time period.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Recent Archaeological Investigations in Chiapas, Mexico   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38476.0