40 years of discovery: Married UH archeologists reshaping Maya history

Diane and Arlen Chase have been fascinated with archaeology for their entire lives. They met during Diane's first day at the University of Pennsylvania as a freshman. Not long after, their shared passion turned into a lifelong excavation mission in Caracol, Belize.

"We have been doing research at Caracol since 1985, so that's 40 years. We have been going back every year," Diane said.

At the start of their project, there was no running water, no electricity, and they used hand tools to uncover secrets to a Maya civilization that had been hidden for centuries.

Earlier this year, the University of Houston archaeologists returned to the site and made a discovery that has made national headlines.

"We went back and recleaned out a tomb that we found in 1993. We started through the floor, and boom, we hit this chamber. It was immediately clear that there was something important in here," Arlen said.

Click the video above to learn about the Chases most remarkable discovery yet, the burial tomb of Te K'ab Chaak, who is believed to be the first ruler of the ancient city.

"On one hand, we say it was 40 years in the making or maybe 1,700 years," Diane said.