Discoveries may rewrite Mayan history.

Archaeologist have uncovered several intact tombs in Caracol, Belize, belonging to the ancient royalty of one of the most important kingdoms of Mayan civilization. The discoveries contradict long-held theories relating to the Central American society's organization and collapse that are premised on the existence of a wide gulf between the royalty and the rest of the Mayan people. "Classic Mayan society was far more complex than we have previously recognized," point out Diane Z. Chase and Arlen F. Chase of the University of Central Florida.

The findings include two intact royal burials. One 1,600-year-old undisturbed tomb contained the remains of a Mayan ruler. A 1,300-year-old tomb held members of a royal family that reigned over a kingdom of more than 7,000 square miles.

The older tomb contained 17 vessels, some of them elaborately painted and stuccoed, as well as obsidian earflares, bone figurines, and the remains of a jade and shell necklace. A second body also had been placed in the chamber. The other housed four people, all resting on a plaster floor that was covered with jade flakes. Two males were placed on their backs with their heads to the south; one had a necklace of human teeth. The remains of two other individuals, including an adult female, rested among the 20 vessels and other artifacts recovered from the chamber.

Prior to the Caracol discoveries, it generally was believed that the Maya buried their dead rulers and royals in ways that differed significantly from the rest of the population. The Caracol data show that this was not the case. Shared patterns include the interment of more than one person within the same chamber or tomb; the movement of bodies, bones, and offerings from one resting place to another; and the...