SACRAMENTO — The image of a “Jester god,” a symbol of royalty among the ancient Maya, may have done just the trick. Some archaeologists suggest its discovery has helped identify the oldest known burial site for a Maya ruler.

The ancient Maya filled Central America with pyramid-dotted cities prior to a drawn-out abandonment of such sites around 850 A.D., one of archaeology’s most storied mysteries. The unexpected find from the archaeological site of K’o (Kuh-OH) in modern-day Guatemala, reported here at the Society for American Archaeology meeting, pushes the first known Maya ruler, or “Ajaw,” back two centuries to around 350 B.C. Read more.