Site had been found in 1970

 BY GLENN GARVIN

 MANAGUA -- In the dense rain forest of northern Guatemala, archaeologists have
 rediscovered the lost ruins of a once-mighty Mayan city that has eluded
 researchers for 30 years.

 The archaeologists say the city, which they have named El Pajaral, appears to
 have been a major religious site that attracted pilgrims from all over the Mayan
 world in its heyday, 700 to 800 years ago.

 ``There's nothing that compares with it in all known Mayan culture,'' said Luis de
 Leon, a spokesman for Basic Resources, the multinational oil company that has
 underwritten the search for the city.

 El Pajaral was first discovered by American archaeologist Ian Graham in 1970 in
 the northern Guatemalan province of Peten. But not only was Guatemala's civil
 war raging on all sides of the site, but Graham lacked government backing for the
 project. He soon had to give up excavation.

 Later, as fighting died down, Guatemalan archaeologists tried to resume the work.
 But errors in Graham's maps stymied them, and El Pajaral remained hidden in
 the jungle.

 It was only late last year that archaeologists on contract to Basic Resources,
 which is searching for oil in Peten, picked up the track. Villagers from the tiny
 Quiche Indian settlement of Los Cerritos -- founded eight years ago as part of a
 government land reform program -- told the scientists that there were ``old
 buildings'' in the nearby jungle.

 That was putting it mildly. El Pajaral consists of two major ceremonial plazas,
 joined by a steep stone staircase 150 feet wide and perhaps 100 feet long. The
 lower plaza has the remains of 13 buildings, some 25 feet high. The upper plaza
 has five temples, some towering as high as 60 feet. Archaeologists believe two of
 the temples may have doubled as astronomical observatories.

 The site is dotted with altars and tall, carved limestone tablets known as stelae,
 similar in appearance to the totem poles found at some Indian sites in North
 America. But while stelae are usually only about five feet tall, those at El Pajaral
 are twice that height.

 ``The really important thing, though, is the mix of architectural styles,'' de Leon
 told The Herald. ``Some things are built in a style associated with Mayan sites in
 Mexico. There are others that look more like the Mayan ruins in Copan, in
 Honduras. . . . It looks like people came from all around to help design and build
 El Pajaral.''

 Archaeologists speculated that the lower plaza was used by poorer pilgrims,
 while the upper one was reserved for nobles and other important visitors.

 Much of the site remains buried, and excavation is expected to take years.
 ``Unfortunately, we may lose the race against pillagers,'' archaeologist Salvador
 Lopez told the Guatemala City daily Siglo 21. ``There's already evidence of
 robberies and excavations by people who traffic illegally in the national heritage.''

 Parts of the site have been broken up by grave robbers, looking for the valuable
 jade ornaments and statues that the Mayans buried with their dead.

 Basic Oil has hired villagers from Los Cerritos as guards at the site, and they
 have chased off at least one armed raiding party.

 ``But what we really hope to do is get someone else interested in the site,'' said
 de Leon. ``We keep archaeologists on contract because there are a lot of Mayan
 ruins in the area where we explore. But this site isn't even our property. We're
 helping because it's obviously so important.''