Royal Maya Tomb Found in Belize Makes Top 10 Discoveries of 2025

Archaeology Magazine has released its annual list of the Top 10 Discoveries of the year, and a groundbreaking find from Belize has earned a place among the world’s most significant archaeological achievements.

After more than 40 years of continuous excavation at the ancient Maya city of Caracol, University of Houston archaeologists Arlen and Diane Chase uncovered what they describe as a once-in-a-lifetime discovery: the tomb of Te’ Kab Chaak, the founder of Caracol’s ruling dynasty. It is the first royal tomb ever found at the site, and a rarity in Maya archaeology, where linking human remains directly to a known historical figure is extremely uncommon.

“There was a eureka-type moment when we stuck a measuring stick in, and it didn’t touch the bottom,” recalled Arlen Chase. “We knew something was there—then came the challenge of getting in.”

Inside, archaeologists discovered a seven-foot-high rectangular chamber coated in red cinnabar, a mark of elite status. The floor held pottery, jadeite ornaments, carved bone tubes, and other offerings dated to Te’ Kab Chaak’s reign, which ended around A.D. three hundred fifty. The most remarkable object was a jade-and-shell mosaic death mask that once covered the ruler’s face.

“This discovery is a reminder of how quickly breakthroughs can happen—and how much patience archaeology demands,” said Diane Chase. “It took more than a thousand years for this tomb to be found, and for us, at least forty.”

Te’ Kab Chaak ascended to the throne around A.D. three hundred thirty-one, overseeing the early development of Caracol long before it became one of the dominant Maya powers in the southern Yucatán. His burial was located in an area the Chases first explored in 1993. When the team returned this year, they detected an unexplained void below the level where previous work had stopped.