In a rare find, scientists discover large mayan jade pendant with carved inscriptions

New Delhi: In rarest of the rare find, scientists have discovered a large piece of carved jade that once belonged to an ancient Maya king, inscribed with a historical text decribing its first owner.

The jewel - a jade pendant worn on a king's chest during key religious ceremonies - was first unearthed in 2015, in Nim Li Punit in southern Belize.

The T-shaped pendant is remarkable for being the second largest Maya jade found in Belize to date, said Geoffrey Braswell, a professor at University of California, San Diego in the US.

"It was like finding the Hope Diamond in Peoria instead of New York," said Braswell, who led the dig. "We would expect something like it in one of the big cities of the Maya world. Instead, here it was, far from the centre," he said.

The pendant measures 7.4 inches wide, 4.1 inches high and just 0.3 inches thick.

Sawing it into this thin, flat form with string, fat and jade dust would have been a technical feat for the Mayans, researchers said.

The pendant is the only one known to be inscribed with a historical text. Carved into the pendant's back are 30 hieroglyphs about its first owner.

The pendant was "not torn out of history by looters," said Braswell.

(With PTI inputs)