Researchers in Mexico have located a site in the jungles of Chiapas that may be Sac-Blam, “Land of the White Jaguar,” the last stronghold of the Lacandon-Chol people who resisted Spanish rule.
Archaeologists in Mexico believe they have located the remains of Sac-Blam, a lost Maya city that for generations has been considered one of the most elusive sites in Mesoamerican archaeology. The city, whose name is sometimes translated as “Land of the White Jaguar,” was said to be the last stronghold of the Lecandon-Chol, a Maya group that resisted Spanish rule for about 110 years after the fall of its previous capital, Lecam-Ton, in 1586. The find was reported by Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History, INAH, but the researchers themselves are still presenting the identification cautiously: the site is listed as “probably Sac-Blam,” rather than as a definitive identification. (inah.gob.mx)
Sac-Blam holds a special place in the history of the Spanish conquest, because it is no longer a classic Maya city from the pre-European period, but a settlement of late resistance. After the Spanish took control of Lecam-Ton, the Lecandon-Chol retreated deeper into the forests of Chiapas, where they established a new center that allowed them to maintain their independence for more than a century. The Spanish were able to reach the site only in 1695, and then renamed it Nuestra Señora de los Dolores. In 1721, the settlement was abandoned, and the jungle covered it again.
The search for the city was based on a combination of historical sources and modern geographic tools. Josue Luceda Toledo, a researcher at the INAH center in Chiapas, built a predictive model using geographic information systems. He relied, among other things, on a letter and testimonies from the 17th century by Spanish friar Diego de Rivas, who described a four-day walk from the city to the Lacunac River, followed by a two-day canoe trip to the confluence of the rivers. Luceda incorporated terrain conditions, vegetation, water sources, and the practical ability of people to move through the jungle with luggage into the model.
The model led the researchers to the Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve in southeastern Mexico, near the Jata and Ixcan rivers and the Guatemalan border. There, archaeological evidence consistent with the historical description was found, including stone structures, obsidian tools, pottery, and the remains of a small church from the Spanish period. The research team has reportedly already conducted two initial field seasons, which included mapping the site, exploratory excavations, and an attempt to determine the period of its occupation. (Smithsonian Magazine)
The significance of the find goes beyond simply locating a lost city. If confirmed, Sac-Blam would provide a rare window into a relatively late chapter in Mayan history: a period in which indigenous communities did not “disappear” after the arrival of the Spanish, but continued to organize, resist, trade, hide, and adapt to colonial realities. In the case of Lacandon-Chol, it is a community that chose the jungle as a refuge and a space for action, and managed to remain outside direct Spanish control for a very long time.
The find also reminds us that the Spanish conquest of the Americas was not a uniform and rapid process. The fall of the Aztec Empire in 1521 is sometimes seen as a symbol of Spanish control over Mexico, but the Maya regions were fragmented, complex, and difficult to control. In parts of southern Mexico and Guatemala, resistance continued for generations. Sources from the period even described the Lacandon region as a “land of war,” a phrase that shows how limited Spanish control was in these jungles. (The art newspaper)
However, one must be careful not to be too definitive. The fact that the site fits the historical and geographical model, and that suitable remains have been found, is still not enough to close the debate. Researchers will need to complete a more precise dating, expand the excavations, map the structures, and see if the findings can be clearly linked to the late phase of settlement at Candón-Chol and the Spanish conquest. According to reports, the study is expected to be published in the journal Chicomoztoc, and follow-up work at the site is expected.
Therefore, the answer to the question of whether Saq-Blam has been found is at this point: probably, but not yet definitive. It is precisely this caution that reinforces the importance of the discovery. It is not just an adventure story about a city swallowed by the jungle, but an example of how modern archaeology combines a rereading of colonial sources, geographical models, and hard fieldwork to reconstruct the story of communities that have been pushed to the margins of official history.
More of the topic in Hayadan:
- The fall of the Mayan culture - "They did it to themselves"
- Characterization of the blue color of the Mayan culture
- 2,600 years ago the Maya were already churning chocolate
- Hieroglyphs reveal the struggles that preceded the fall of the Mayan civilization
- The long-term Maya calendar was calibrated to the modern calendar with the help of carbon 14 dating
- 2012 - Is the end of the world really coming?
