New Inscription of "2012" date in La Corona, Guatemala

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Until now, only one reference to December 21, 2012 (the most agreed upon correlation) has ever been discovered. Totuguero Monument 6 bears the famed "13 b'aktun" date and is on display in a museum in Villahermosa, Mexico. Now, at La Corona, a massive archaeological site in northern Guatemala, a second reference has been uncovered.

In this University of Texas at Austin article, "Maya Scholar Deciphers Meaning of Newly Discovered Monument That Refers to 2012," the author says that the new 2012 reference was, rather than prophecy, a way for a troubled king to place his "reign and accomplishments into a larger cosmological framework."

Dr. David Stuart, the archaeologist who deciphered the Maya glyph, explains: “The monument commemorated a royal visit to La Corona in AD 696 by the most powerful Maya ruler of that time, a few months after his defeat by a long-standing rival in AD 695,” said Stuart. “Thought by scholars to have been killed in this battle, this ruler was visiting allies and allaying their fears after his defeat. It was a time of great political turmoil in the Maya region, and this king felt compelled to allude to a larger cycle of time that happens to end in 2012.”

Independent researcher John Major Jenkins says that this explanation by Stuart's team has astronomical implications as well. "It is similar to what Lord Jaguar did with the 2012 date on Tortuguero Monument 6," says Jenkins. "He exploited the astronomical parallel between his birthday and the 2012 date, placing the sun at the Crossroads of the Milky Way and the ecliptic."

No matter what degree of intention you believe there was when, 1300 years ago, several Maya wrote the date, 13 b'aktun, it's a perfect time to visit the region, until December 21 and beyond.

(Pictured above: Maya inscriptions, on a stela in Coba, Mexico, photo by Joshua Berman)