Xultun

Sylvanus Morley was told about a large ruin by a chiclero (gum-resin harvester) named Aurelio Aguayo, who claimed to have first come across the jungle city five years prior. He was not disappointed, excitedly calling the site “the largest city of the Old Empire in northeastern Petén.” It was during this first visit that Morley and his team named the site Xultun—xul meaning “end” and tun meaning “stone” in Yukatek Mayan. This name was chosen for the 10.3.0.0.0 date of Stela 10 (889 CE), the latest known Long Count date in the Maya Lowlands at the time. Between 1921 and 1924, the Carnegie Institution generated a rough map of Xultun’s main architectural groups and documented its carved monuments.