Between the past and the present: the Ixil Maya and the discovery of rare mural paintings in Guatemala

  • Jarosław Źrałka
  • Katarzyna Radnicka
Keywords: Ixil Maya, wall paintings, Chajul, cultural continuity

Abstract

The Ixil Maya area is located in Quiche Department of the north-western part of the Guatemalan Highlands. It has witnessed a continuous occupation since the 1st millennium BC till today. This archaeologically interesting region has provided many important discoveries of rare cultural mixture, with distinct features typical for both Maya Highlands and more distant Lowlands. Recently, the scholarly interest has focused on Chajul where a few years ago, in one of the local houses, well preserved wall paintings dated to the Colonial period were exposed by the house owner during the process of its renovation. With this extraordinary finding a question emerged - are we able to confirm the cultural continuity between the pre-Columbian settlers and modem Ixil who claim «to be always here»? This paper presents a brief outline of the history of the Ixil Maya. It also presents results of some recent and preliminary studies conducted by Polish scholars in this region.

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Published
2014-12-31
How to Cite
Źrałka, J., & Radnicka, K. (2014). Between the past and the present: the Ixil Maya and the discovery of rare mural paintings in Guatemala. Estudios Latinoamericanos, 34, 169-185. https://doi.org/10.36447/Estudios2014.v33-34.art7
Section
II. America en el periodo prehispanico y colonial temprano

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