A diver swims over the two-masted schooner Walter B. Allen, which sank in Lake Michigan 1880.
Credit: Tamara Thomsen, Wisconsin Historical Society

Off the lakeshore in Wisconsin, dozens of ships lie under the surface. In October 2015, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced a new national marine sanctuary. In June 2021, the NOAA officially designated the Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary in Lake Michigan. Marine sanctuaries are protected waters, habitats, and archeological sites. In this case, NOAA’s sanctuary protects archeological, cultural, historic, and prehistoric artifacts, along with all historic shipwreck sites that served an important role in maritime heritage. The NOAA and the state of Wisconsin are co-managing the sanctuary.

The area is 726 square nautical miles (962 square miles or 2,492 square kilometers) along the coasts of Manitowoc, Port Washington, Sheboygan, and Two Rivers. The sanctuary protects 36 known shipwrecks. Of those, 21 are in the National Register of Historic Places. Because of Lake Michigan’s cold temperature and lack of salt, these shipwrecks are preserved with more integrity than usual, and some remain mostly intact. Researchers believe there are up to 59 shipwrecks in the sanctuary. Wisconsin spent three decades preserving historic maritime sites against human and natural activities. The sanctuary provides opportunities for archeological preservation, research, and education.

The shipwrecks have historical significance. They include the two oldest known shipwrecks in Wisconsin. From the 1800’s through the 1900’s, the Great Lakes were used to ship such goods as coal, grain, and manufactured goods. Hundreds of thousands of settlers used the lakes to move to the Midwest and West of the United States. Midwestern cities, farms, and industries grew as a result.

A new archaeological discovery is seen in Luxor, Egypt.
Credit: © Zahi Hawass Center for Egyptology

In early April 2021, Egyptian archaeologists announced their discovery of a previously unknown ancient city that had been buried largely intact for thousands of years. The city, given the name Aten or The Rise of Aten, was built around 3,500 years ago near Egypt’s Valley of the Kings, a narrow gorge that was used as a cemetery by the pharaohs (kings) of ancient Egypt.

Egyptologists (scholars who study ancient Egypt) compared the importance of the discovery of Aten to the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun (sometimes called King Tut) in 1922. Others compare this site to Pompeii, an ancient city in Italy that disappeared after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79. Like Pompeii, Aten promises to give scholars a rare and relatively complete view of the daily life of ancient Egyptian commoners. Most other important discoveries in Egyptology involve tombs of pharaohs and other wealthy Egyptians.

The remarkable site of Aten preserves the ruins of many homes built of mud brick walls about 9 feet (3 meters) high. Archaeologists also found the remains of tools and other utensils used in the daily life of ancient Egyptians along with jewelry, scarab charms, pottery, and tools for making bread, yarn, cloth, and glass. The number of homes and workshops at the site shows that the city had a large population. The archaeologists have discovered a number of burials that preserve the skeletons of some of the city residents. Unlike wealthy people in ancient Egypt, the burials of these commoners were not preserved as mummies.

Pottery found at the site bore an inscription that allowed scholars to determine it was manufactured during the reign of the pharaoh Akhenaten. He ruled ancient Egypt from about 1353 to 1336 B.C. His wife, Queen Nefertiti, was famous for her great beauty and her dedication to her husband’s teachings. Akhenaten was originally known as Amenhotep IV. He was the son of Amenhotep III, one of the most powerful pharaohs of ancient Egypt’s New Kingdom period (1539-1075 B.C.). During the New Kingdom, Egypt became the largest and strongest empire in the ancient world.

As pharaoh, Amenhotep IV was a religious reformer. He chose Aten as the only god of Egypt and dismissed the many gods and goddesses of the ancient Egyptian pantheon. Aten had been a little-known sun god worshiped mainly in the ancient Egyptian city of Thebes. Amenhotep was so devoted to the worship of Aten that he changed his own name to Akhenaten, meaning servant of Aten. Akhenaten’s religious reforms, known as the Amarna Revolution, led to an outpouring of art and sculpture that glorified the Aten. But the changes angered many Egyptians who wished to continue worshipping the old gods.

After the death of Akhenaten, his successor Tutankhaten removed -aten from his name and became Tutankhamun. He restored the old state religion, allowing the worship of the many old gods as well as Aten. Later pharaohs destroyed or removed all monuments built by or in honor of Tutankhamun and others who had accepted Aten as Egypt’s chief god. The city of Aten was abandoned and eventually became buried in the desert sand for more than 3,000 years until its rediscovery this year.

In October 2020, archaeologists carrying out maintenance work discovered this giant geoglyph (ground etching) of a cat at the site of the famous Nazca Lines in Peru.
Credit: Jhony Islas, Peru’s Ministry of Culture

This month, archaeologists discovered a catlike figure carved into a hillside in Nazca, Peru. Archaeologists are people who study the remains of past human cultures. The cat is the latest geoglyph (ground etching) to be found in a region famous for its giant designs. The Nazca people marked into the ground these designs, also called the Nazca lines. The Nazca were a Native American culture that lived as early as 100 B.C. to A.D. 800 in the coastal desert of what is now southern Peru. Drawn centuries before such other famous cats as Garfield and the Chesire Cat, this catlike geoglyph illustrates the timeless appeal of our feline friends.

The catlike image in Nazca has pointy ears, round eyes, and a striped tail. It is also engaged in a favorite cat pastime—lounging. Its long body stretches 40 yards (37 meters) on the hillside. The geoglyph is said to date from 200 B.C. to 100 B.C.—making it a lot of cat years old. The cat is believed to be older than the other geoglyphs that have been discovered at Nazca over the years. Archaeologists came across the etching while they were remodeling a section of the hill.

The Nazca made the geoglyphs by removing surface stones and piling them along the edges of the designs. Removing the dark rocks exposed the bright sand beneath. The designs have lasted for centuries in the desert environment, with little rain or wind to wear them away. The geoglyphs can only be seen in full from the air.

Many of the geoglyphs form the outlines of gigantic animals and plants. They include figures of a killer whale, a lizard, a monkey, and a spider. More common are geometric forms, including spirals, straight lines, trapezoids, and triangles. Some of the lines appear to spread outward from small hills, like the spokes of a wheel. The lines stretch for miles or kilometers across the desert. Platforms lie near the bases of many of the trapezoids.

In 1994, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) declared the Nazca lines a World Heritage Site. UNESCO gives this designation to areas of unique natural or cultural importance.

Scholars believe that the Nazca lines had several functions. Investigations by scientists indicate that people gathered and walked on the lines. Scholars think that people placed offerings on platforms around the shapes to encourage the nature spirits to provide rain for their crops. The animal designs symbolized the essence of the nature spirits, whereas some of the geometric lines led pilgrims to ritual centers.

May 15, 2019

Last month, on April 10, scientists announced that fossils discovered in the Philippines were evidence of a new and previously unknown variety of human that inhabited the islands some 67,000 years ago. The fossils were found at Callao Cave in northern Luzon, the main island of the Philippines. The scientists determined that the fossils represent a new species of human beings called Homo luzonensis.

Scientists found the bones of Homo luzonensis at Callao Cave on the Philippine island of Luzon. Credit: Callao Cave Archaeology Project

The fossil remains of Homo luzonensis were discovered during excavations that took place at Callao Cave from 2007 through 2015. The remains of three individuals included isolated teeth, a foot bone, two toe bones, two finger bones, and an incomplete thigh bone. Scientists observed an odd mix of anatomical features in these few remains. Some of the features are seen in modern humans alive today. Other features, such as highly curved toe bones, are seen in primitive human ancestors called Australopithecines.

These teeth of Homo luzonensis were found in Callao Cave. Credit: © Callao Cave Archaeology Project

The fossils from Luzon add to the growing list of physically distinct varieties of prehistoric humans known across the world—a list that has complicated the view of human evolution. Scientists understand from fossil evidence that physically modern human beings, Homo sapiens, first appeared in the fossil record of Africa around 200,000 years ago. Scientists believe those people eventually spread to inhabit nearly every corner of the globe. However, many regions of Africa, Asia, and Europe were already occupied by prehistoric humans when Homo sapiens arrived.

This foot bone of Homo luzonensis shows unusual curvature. Credit: © Callao Cave Archaeology Project

The Neandertals, a well known group of prehistoric humans, inhabited much of Europe and Central Asia at least 250,000 years ago. Another group, known informally as the Denisovans, is identified by genetic material recovered from a few bones discovered in Siberia (and recently, Tibet) that date to more than 50,000 years ago. Scientist do not know what the Denisovans looked like because fossil remains are so scarce, but their DNA shows they were distinct from both Neandertals and modern humans. These early people are also different from Homo naledi, a mysterious early human species first discovered at Rising Star Cave in South Africa in 2015. Even more peculiar is Homo floresiensis, a diminutive (very small) variety of prehistoric humans known from fossils discovered on the Indonesian island of Flores in 2004.

Scientist now understand that early Homo sapiens shared their world with several other physically distinct varieties of human beings. These ancient people were more like cousins than ancestors to modern humans. Today, only physically modern people remain. The discovery of yet another previously unknown human species demonstrates that prehistoric people came in many shapes and sizes.

September 12, 2018

High in the Atacama Desert of Chile, a system of stone pillars and rock piles called saywas was recently found to be an ancient Inca calendar. Once thought only to mark a local Inca trail, a team of archaeologists, astronomers, historians, and researchers recently showed how the saywas work as a complicated and connected calendar to identify and predict equinoxes, solstices, and other astronomical events. The Inca trail in the Atacama Desert is part of the Qhapaq Ñan, an extensive Inca road network that stretches from southern Colombia to central Chile.

The sun peeks over the Andes Mountains at dawn, illuminating a line of ancient Inca saywas in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. Credit: A. Silber, ALMA/ESO/NAOJ/NRAO

Working at 13,800 feet (4,200 meters) above sea level in the desert mountains near Taltal, a small city in northern Chile, the scientific team began visiting the saywas and taking measurements in 2017. The team included local indigenous people as well as experts from the Chilean Museum of Pre-Colombian Art, the nearby Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observatory, and the European Southern Observatory. The research was funded by BHP/Minera Escondida, a mining company with more material interests in the desert.

The scientific team began the study by documenting alignments between certain saywas and the sunrises on the March equinox and June solstice. They then began connecting saywa points with other important dates on the ancient Inca calendar. Operating much in the same way as Stonehenge in England, the saywas align with sunrises on certain dates, while also projecting shadows on the ground that lead to other stone points. The researchers also found that certain saywas align with constellations at night, further strengthening the researchers’ conclusion, published in 2018, that the network of stones served as a large calendar for Inca astronomers.

The first written accounts of the saywas were recorded during the Spanish conquest of Andean  South America in the 1500′s and 1600′s. The saywas’ remote locations in the empty desert, far from Inca cities, led the Spanish to believe that the stone piles were little more than pathway markers to help guide people through the vast, barren desert. The saywas did in fact aid in navigation, but the larger purpose of the stone markers remained unknown for centuries. In recent years, however, knowledge of the Inca has greatly expanded, and the study of ancient Quechua and Aymara (Inca languages) dictionaries led to the examination of the relationship between the saywas and the Inca astronomical system.

The ancient Inca capital of Cusco (in modern-day Peru) was surrounded by columns used to measure time, create calendars, and predict equinoxes and solstices as well as the planting and harvesting seasons. The remote saywas, however, were tucked away in the Atacama Desert. Perhaps that was merely the best view of the heavens, allowing Inca astronomers to get the most accurate measurements while Cusco was obscured by clouds and mist. Modern astronomers use the high desert for the same purpose. The sprawling ALMA observatory is only a (figurative) stone’s throw away.

August 4, 2017

New excavations conducted at Madjedbebe, a rock shelter in northern Australia, have provided evidence that humans first arrived there around 65,000 years ago. That date, based on sophisticated modern dating methods, pushes back the earliest physical evidence for human occupation in Australia by at least 15,000 years. The discovery is forcing scientists to reevaluate some common theories about the ancestors of today’s Aboriginal people of Australia.

The Madjedbebe rock shelter is the oldest-known site of human occupation in Australia. Credit: © Dominic O’Brien, Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation

The chronology of the peopling of Australia has been the subject of scientific debate for decades. Archaeologists have found prehistoric Aboriginal sites mainly in southern Australia. These sites—which date from 30,000 to 40,000 years ago—include locations at the Swan River in Western Australia and at Lake Mungo, Lake Tandou, and Talyawalka Creek in New South Wales. After Aboriginal people arrived in northern Australia, it could have taken them several thousand years to travel across the continent and learn to live in new environments. Scientists have therefore concluded that human beings must have arrived in northern Australia well before 40,000 years ago, the dates of the earliest Aboriginal sites in the south. Most archaeologists believed people first arrived in northern Australia in a single migration that occurred at least 50,000 years ago.

Researcher Elspeth Hayes, left, discusses the sampling of stone tool residue with Mark Djandjomerr, center, and May Nango, right, of the Mirarr Clan, the traditional owners of Madjedbebe. Credit: © Vincent Lamberti, Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation

Madjedbebe, a prehistoric rock shelter about 180 miles (300 kilometers) east of Darwin in Australia’s Northern Territory, was first investigated by archaeologists in the 1970’s. The scientists discovered hundreds of stone tools at the site and many pieces of red ocher, a soft mineral often used as a pigment (coloring agent). Determining the age of the site, however, proved difficult. Beginning in 2012, archaeologists obtained permission from local Aboriginals to reenter Madjedbebe. The archaeologists then recovered more stone tools and huge amounts of red ocher. The tools included advanced ground-edge stone axes, grindstones for processing seeds, finely made stone spearpoints, and flakes of shiny mica that may have been added to ocher like glitter.

This ancient ground-edge stone axe was recently recovered from Madjedbebe. Credit: © Chris Clarkson, Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation

The scientists at Madjedbebe used a state-of-the-art dating technique called optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) to date the stone tool-bearing sediments. This method determines how long sediments have been buried based on the amount of electrons given off by radioactive elements that become trapped in sediment crystals. The new tests determined the sediments were between 60,000 to 70,000 years old.

Although many archaeologists were excited about the new ancient dates for this site, other scientists raised questions that had not been considered before. In an earlier study, scientists analyzing genetic material from living Aboriginal people suggested that the first humans arrived about 50,000 years ago. The genetic data suggest that the people who inhabited Madjedbebe may have been part of an early migration that was overwhelmed by later arrivals. These later migrants, they argue, are the ancestors to today’s Aboriginal people of Australia, and the earlier arrivals may have died out.

May 11, 2017

A recent anatomical study of Homo floresiensis, a miniature ancient species of prehistoric people, strongly suggests they are not directly related to modern humans. The study, led by Australian National University school of archaeology and anthropology researcher Debbie Argue, found there was no evidence that the diminutive H. floresiensis descended from the much larger Homo erectus, a regional contemporary human species of H. floresiensis.  Many scientists believe H. erectus was a direct ancestor to later humans, including all living people today. Argue and her research team’s findings were published last month in the Journal of Human Evolution.

The skull of Homo floresiensis, at left, is much smaller than that of a modern human, shown on the right. Recent research suggests H. floresiensis is a unique species unrelated to modern humans. Credit: © AFP/Getty Images

First discovered in 2004, H. floresiensis is a species of prehistoric human that is strikingly small in stature. The species is known only from skeletal remains discovered on Indonesia’s Flores Island in Southeast Asia. The bones show that adults in this population were little more than 3 feet (90 centimeters) tall. Adults also had a brain about one-third the size of a modern human brain. The species was nicknamed “hobbits” after the short people in the fiction of English author J. R. R. Tolkien.

Previous to this most recent study, many researchers suspected that H. floresiensis descended from a group of early human beings, probably H. erectus, that had dispersed from Africa more than 1 million years ago. The scientists theorized that a group of H. erectus became isolated on remote Flores island long ago and gradually evolved (developed over time) a smaller body size. They may have died out when physically modern humans arrived on the island.

However, the new study findings show that H. floresiensis was probably descended from a far more primitive ancestor than H. erectus. The study indicates that another species of early humans, called Homo habilis, is a more likely ancestor to the Flores “hobbits.” H. habilis is the most ancient member of the genus Homo, the scientific name for the group of species that includes modern humans. H. habilis is known from fossils in Africa that date from about 2.4 million years ago to about 1.7 million years ago. Yet, to date, no fossils of H. habilis have been discovered beyond the African continent. Many scientists believe that H. habilis did not possess the intelligence or technology necessary to migrate into new environments outside of their homeland. If the hobbits of Flores Island—some 5,600 miles (9,000 kilometers) from Africa’s east coast—are indeed descendants of H. habilis, then scientists will have to reevaluate their ideas about H. habilis as they continue to study and learn about prehistoric peoples.

December 28, 2016

On Monday, December 19, U.S. President Barack Obama signed a bill ordering the return of an ancient human skeleton known as Kennewick Man to representatives of local Native American groups for reburial. The order signaled the end of a lengthy legal tug-of-war between archaeologists and Native American groups over the handling of prehistoric graves discovered in the United States.

The exceptionally well-preserved skeleton of Kennewick Man is represented by nearly 300 bones and bone fragments. Credit: © Chip Clark, Smithsonian Institution

Kennewick Man is the name given to an ancient, nearly complete skeleton that was found by two college students on the banks of the Columbia River in south-central Washington in 1996. (Local Native Americans call the skeleton Ancient One.) Thinking it might be the remains of a recent missing person, the students reported their find to law enforcement authorities. Scientists called in to examine the skeleton quickly ended the possibility of a modern murder mystery: they found a stone spearpoint in the skeleton’s right hip. Guessing they were working with an ancient skeleton, the scientists sent a bone sample to a radiocarbon laboratory for dating. The lab results determined that Kennewick Man lived between 8,500 and 9,500 years ago. Armed with these results, the scientists determined that the skeleton was that of a Paleo-Indian. Paleo-Indians were among the earliest people to inhabit the Western Hemisphere.

This clay facial reconstruction of Kennewick Man was sculpted around the features of his skull. The reconstruction lends a deeper understanding of how the Ancient One may have looked some 9,000 years ago. (Sculpted bust of Kennewick Man by StudioEIS based on forensic facial reconstruction by sculptor Amanda Danning.) Credit: © Brittney Tatchell, Smithsonian Institution

Several Native American groups from the area where the skeleton was discovered, including the Yakama, Wanapum, Umatilla, Colville, and Nez Perce peoples, requested that the skeleton be returned for proper reburial. Many Native Americans believe the excavation of burials and analysis of remains to be disrespectful, and that doing so disrupts the spirits of the dead. The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990 requires institutions receiving federal money to return human remains and grave items to Native American groups if the groups can prove their “cultural affiliation” to the remains.

For such an ancient skeleton, demonstrating cultural affiliation is difficult. No tools, weapons, clothing, or other artifacts that might help identify Kennewick Man were found with the skeleton. Because the remains were found on federal land, the U.S. Department of the Interior had to decide what to do with them. In 2000, the department determined that Kennewick Man was a Native American and would be returned without further study to the Indian groups that claimed him. A group of archaeologists, however, challenged this decision in court. In 2002, a federal court ruled that the skeleton should not be returned and could be further studied. In 2004, Native American groups ended all attempts to appeal the ruling, allowing scientists to keep the skeleton.

In 2015, however, new genetic evidence proved that Kennewick Man was, in fact, closely related to Native Americans in the Washington region. In 2016, officials from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers acknowledged the cultural affiliation of Kennewick Man. The bill signed by President Obama in December orders the skeleton to be transferred to state archaeologists in Washington. They will work with local Native American nations, who will rebury the remains according to traditional customs within 90 days. The Ancient One will soon finally rest in peace at home.

September 29, 2016

Archaeologists excavating at Çatalhöyük, an ancient town in present-day Turkey, have recently discovered a unique 8,000-year-old figurine buried beneath the floor of a home. The figurine is one of only a few intact (unbroken) examples of such sculptures ever found in the region. The discovery provides a fascinating glimpse into the ritual life among citizens of Çatalhöyük, one of the world’s earliest known cities.

Çatalhöyük, Turkey. Credit: WORLD BOOK map

People lived at Çatalhöyük between about 7,200 and 5,500 B.C., during the Neolithic Period (New Stone Age). During this period, the first farming communities arose in the ancient Middle East. Archaeologists estimate that ancient Çatalhöyük had a population between 5,000 and 10,000 people. Many consider it to be the world’s first true city. The people grew grain and herded sheep and goats. Çatalhöyük is famous for the spectacular art preserved inside the houses. Archaeologists have discovered thousands of small figurines at Çatalhöyük. Many are found broken from sites that appear to be refuse dumps for the town. Almost all of the figurines are fashioned from clay and depict animals, such as antelope, cattle, lions, and leopards. A smaller number of clay figurines are fashioned into human forms, and of these, the vast majority represent females. Human female figures are often depicted with greatly oversized breasts and buttocks, which may represent fertility. Human figurines carved from stone (the newly found figurine is made from marble) are uncommon at the site, and undamaged examples are even more unusual.

Archaeologists with the international Çatalhöyük Research Project discovered the new figurine this summer during excavations at one of the site’s earliest houses. The figurine depicts a woman with exaggerated physical features. It is about 18 inches (45 centimeters) long and carved from a single piece of marble. It weighs about 2 pounds (1 kilogram). The figurine was discovered in a niche (small space) in the floor of a house, covered with a large, flat piece of obsidian (volcanic glassy rock), a valuable stone for the citizens of Çatalhöyük. Archaeologists believe the figurine was intentionally placed in this spot, perhaps as part of a fertility rite or other ritual. They suggest the figurine may represent a mature woman of great wisdom or a family matriarch. Archaeologists believe such wise older women held high social status in Çatalhöyük society.

The site of Çatalhöyük is largely unpopulated today. The remains of the ancient city were covered up long ago. Today, archaeologists continue to excavate and make new discoveries at the site, which exists as two large mounds rising over the surrounding plains. Archaeologists do not fully understand why Çatalhöyük declined toward the end of the 5000’s B.C.

September 1, 2016

Stone panels decorating a newly discovered tomb tell the fascinating story of the rise and fall of a family of powerful kings known as the “Snake Dynasty” in the civilization of the ancient Maya. Archaeologist Jaime Awe of Northern Arizona University and his colleagues discovered the 1,300-year-old tomb this summer at Xunantunich (SHOO nahn TOO nitch), an important Maya ceremonial and administrative city on the Mopan River in what is now Belize. The tomb, one of the largest Maya tombs ever discovered, held the skeleton of an adult male, who was probably a member of a royal family.

Archaeologists work at the pyramidal temple that hid the discovered tomb at Xunantunich, Belize. Credit: © Jaime Awe, Belize Institute of Archaeology/Northern Arizona University

The Maya developed a magnificent civilization in Central America and southern Mexico that reached its period of greatest development about A.D. 250 to 900. During that time, known as the Classic Period, Maya civilization was centered in the tropical forest of what is now northern Guatemala. Each Maya city governed its surrounding area, and some large cities controlled one or more smaller cities. A king would usually be succeeded by his younger brother or by his son. In some cases, modern scholars know of important Maya dynasties, single families that ruled for generations.

Dr. Awe and his Belizean colleagues discovered the tomb buried under more than 25 feet (8 meters) of debris and rubble that had accumulated over centuries to fill a stairway leading down from one of the Maya city’s temples. Inside, they found the skeleton of a male, probably between 25 and 30 years of age. Grave goods around the skeleton indicated that the person buried was of high social status. The bones of jaguar and deer were placed around the skeleton, along with ceramic bowls and a number of obsidian (volcanic glass) blades. Two niches (hollows) in the walls of the tomb contained many pieces of flint that were cut into the shape of animals, leaves, and other symbols.

But the most interesting artifacts in the tomb were a pair of stone panels engraved with Maya hieroglyphics. The researchers believe the panels were originally part of series erected along a grand stairway at the ancient Maya city of Caracol, about 26 miles (42 kilometers) south of Xunantunich. Scholars believe the panels were ordered by K’an II, the king of Caracol known as the Snake Lord, to commemorate his military victory over Naranjo, just west of Xunantunich, around A.D. 642. The panels describe how the defeated lord of Naranjo participated in a ceremonial ball game before being sacrificed to the gods. The panels go on to record details of a tumultuous period for the conquering family—the Snake Dynasty—marked by deaths, fights over royal succession (inheritance), and marriages of alliance with royals from nearby cities.

By about A.D. 680, the people of Naranjo had rebelled against and defeated the Snake Dynasty of Caracol. Archaeologists believe the stone panels were then torn from the walls at Caracol and eventually used to decorate the tomb at Xunantunich, which lay within the expanded territory ruled by Naranjo. Xunantunich and the surrounding cities went into a sudden decline about A.D. 900, marking the end of the Classic Period of Maya civilization. Eventually, the cities were abandoned and overgrown with forest.