Honduran team unearths ceramics at 'White City' site

Honduran officials said Friday that archaeologists have begun excavations at a mysterious site on Honduras' Caribbean coast that may be the long-rumored "White City" ruins.

Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez (center) joins archaeologists at the site 
of "La Ciudad Blanca" (The White City) [Credit: EFE]

Officials said excavation that began Wednesday have so far unearthed about five dozen stone and ceramic fragments and other artifacts.

Also known as the "City of the Monkey God," the site is located in Honduras' jungle-covered Mosquito coastal region.

The dig is being carried out by archaeologists from Honduras' Institute of Anthropology and Colorado State University.

Institute Director Virgilio Paredes said the site did not appear to be Mayan, the culture that dominated other sites in the region.

This Feb. 21, 2015 handout photo shows a very unusual stone, flat on top and bottom, which was wedged 
shaped, and with a white raised arrow carved into it, running above and apparently also below the
 bottom of the stone, in the jungle-covered Mosquito coastal region of Honduras 
[Credit: Bill Benenson/Benenson Productions via AP]

"It is a new culture, or a different culture," Paredes said.

He said that jars and bowls had been discovered that bore decorations that appeared to represent humans, jaguars, buzzards, lizards and birds. The pieces appear to date to between 1,000 and 1,500 AD, Paredes said.

The most striking piece discovered appears to be a ceremonial seat or throne made of stone, carved with the figure of a jaguar.

The city's name is believed to be derived from the white limestone rock in the area, or a cult purported dedicated to a monkey god.

Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez visited the site and said in a statement "We are blessed to be alive at such a special time in Honduran history."