Archaeologists in Mexico have uncovered what they believe to be the remains of the last recorded Maya rebel stronghold, famed for its century-long defiance of Spanish colonization.
According to historical records, Sak-Bahlán, or the “Land of the White Jaguar,” was the final refuge for the Lakandon-Ch’ol people, who fled deeper into the Lacandon Jungle after the capture of their capital, Lakam-Tun, by the Spanish in 1586. Sak-Bahlán endured for nearly 110 years, until an expedition led by Friar Pedro de la Concepción alerted Spanish forces to its location in 1695. The stronghold was soon invaded and renamed Nuestra Señora de Dolores (“Our Lady of Sorrows”).
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Its society decimated, the site fell into disrepair and, by 1721, into obscurity. Though its location was lost, documents and letters written around the time of its seizure enshrined its legacy—particularly among some Lakandon-Ch’ol descendants—as a symbol of Indigenous resistance to Spanish conquest.
“Lost” may no longer be the right word. In a recent announcement, the multinational Sak-Bahlán Archaeological Project said it had likely rediscovered the long-sought site. The project is co-directed by Dr. Brent Woodfill of Winthrop University in South Carolina and Dr. Yuko Shiratori of Rissho University in Japan.
An announcement from INAH (Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History) credited the discovery to the indispensable guidance of Josuhé Lozada Toledo, an INAH Chiapas Center specialist. Lozada Toledo relied on a combination of GIS technology and the writings of Spanish friar Diego de Rivas to narrow the search within the Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve, a protected area in present-day Chiapas.
He also factored in practical considerations, such as how much cargo a person could reasonably carry across untended terrain and the estimated distance de Rivas had traveled, according to the friar’s notes.
“By combining all these variables, I was able to … obtain an approximate range of where the Sak-Bahlán site could be located,” Lozada Toledo said. The team eventually reached a site at the confluence of the Jataté and Ixcán rivers, near the modern-day border between Mexico and Guatemala.
“It was the most arduous field trip I’ve ever had in my life,” the archaeologist said, “but in the end, we found the archaeological evidence, right at the spot I had marked.”