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Maya Ceramic Dish Depicting Guardian Spirit Discovered

Mexico Maya DishCANSACBÉ, MEXICO—Science Times reports that archaeologists from Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) excavating at the ancient Maya site of Cansacbé in Yucatán have unearthed a ceramic dish that depicts a supernatural guardian spirit known as a wahyis. Dating to the Late Classic period (A.D. 600–900), the dish is decorated with a now-faded painted representation of what may be a jaguar or a man wearing a jaguar skin standing on a bench surrounded by what might be the shells of turtles. According to INAH officials, the dish was a funerary offering and was discovered in the grave of a man who was likely a member of the local Maya elite. To read in-depth about ancient Maya dress, go to “From Head to Toe in the Ancient Maya World.”