Explore, research, conserve.
The San Bartolo-Xultun Regional Archaeological Project (PRASBX) is a multi-institutional collaboration engaged in archaeology, art conservation, and environmental science initiatives in Guatemala. PRASBX investigates two nearby sites in the northeastern Petén region that had a long history spanning the rise and fall of Classic Maya kingdoms (ca. 400 BCE – CE 900). San Bartolo has the earliest evidence of Maya writing yet discovered dating to the 4th century BCE and Xultun was an important city led by a powerful dynasty during the 5th-9th centuries CE. Today, the large urban center and its network of smaller sites have been reclaimed by tropical forest, a protected ecological zone designated the Maya Biosphere Reserve.
New documentary: The San Bartolo Murals
Video “The San Bartolo Murals,” copyright 2024, Proyecto Regional Arqueológico San Bartolo-Xultun. All rights reserved. Cinematography by Riley Mallory. Directed and Produced by Riley Mallory & Heather Hurst.
We are proud to share our short documentary, The San Bartolo Murals, the creative work of Riley Mallory in collaboration with project directors Heather Hurst & Boris Beltrán. This 12-minute film presents the significance of these extraordinary artworks and summarizes recent discoveries behind our current research. As our resident documentarian, Riley has spent three full field seasons at San Bartolo-Xultun recording material that tells the story of our project. This film was created as the introduction to a series of documentaries that will feature our interdisciplinary team addressing various aspects of our work in the Maya Biosphere Reserve. Creating media on topics from doing archaeology and conservation, to a detailed interpretation of the painted masterpiece, and exploring of culture-nature relationships past and present, we are excited to share our work with the public, inspire curiosity, and raise awareness for protecting the site of San Bartolo.
SUPPORT SBX in 2025
Please consider adding your support to our project. From new excavations to replacing tents and water filters, our field based research needs support. Our goals include going solar in camp, creating more films and educational materials, additional tools for monitoring wildlife, and increasing student opportunities in lab analysis.
7 Deer publication receives recognition
The SBX publication on a rare calendar date among the mural fragments excavated from San Bartolo, Petén, Guatemala has received international attention. The mural fragment painted with a number and a day sign, “7 Deer” corresponds to the K’iche’ Maya day Wuqub’ Kej, marking the first day of a year over 22 centuries ago. The “7 Deer” day record represents the earliest securely dated example of the Maya calendar and is important in understanding the development of the 260-day count and associated aspects of Mesoamerican religion and cosmological science. Our research has been recognized by Archaeology magazine as one of the Top Ten Discoveries of 2022 and selected among five global finalists for the International Archaeological Discovery Award Khaled al-Asaad, winning the people’s choice award in 2023.
Video “7 Deer,” copyright 2023, Proyecto Regional Arqueológico San Bartolo-Xultun. All rights reserved. Video by Riley Mallory. Music by Jose Giovanni Diaz Ramírez. Drone by Henry Pérez. Conservation by Angelyn Bass and Yasmin Cifuentes. Voiceover Oscar Perez Hernandez (Spanish), Heather Hurst (English). Publication “An early Maya calendar record” by David Stuart, Heather Hurst, Boris Beltrán, William Saturno 2022.
Archaeology Initiatives
Although Xultun was known to archaeologists 100 years ago, very little research had been done at the site. In 2001, the discovery of murals at the previously undocumented site of San Bartolo initiated the first focused scientific investigations into the dynamic history of the region. Xultun and nearby San Bartolo continue to reveal secrets and yield new discoveries about ancient Maya life in Petén.
Learn more about where the project has been and where it is going.
20+ years of Collaboration
Since the project’s inception, the SBX team has been a multi-disciplinary collaboration bringing together experts and students from Guatemala and the U.S. in the fields of archaeology, materials science and conservation, geography, art and art history, epigraphy, and environmental sciences. Over the duration of the project, we have built a close relationship with the experienced excavators, masons, and field personnel from the villages of Uaxactún, Dolores, and other communities in Petén, Guatemala. Many of the faces of the SBX Project have changed over the years, but many have remained constant as well – meet our team!
The murals at San Bartolo and Xultun have changed our understanding of Maya history.
The artists and scribes of San Bartolo and Xultun created masterpieces in paint, plaster, clay, and stone that provide a window into belief systems and socio-political changes in ancient Maya society. The rare preservation of multiple wall paintings at SBX dating from the 4th century BCE to the 8th century CE represent unique cultural patrimony and exceptional testimony of ancient Maya artistic works.
PRASBX pairs an extensive program of mural scholarship and conservation with its investigative research goals. We seek to understand the greater social dynamics of San Bartolo-Xultun during a time of initial settlement and growth in the Preclassic period, through social upheaval in the 2nd-3rd century CE, and as power was consolidated under dynastic rule during the Classic period. Through archaeology, we investigate the interplay between social systems, visual media, and ecology that unfolded at this lowland Maya city during the first millennium CE.