SAA 2016 Poster: The Queen's Serpent: An Examination of the Serpent Vessel from Burial 61 from El Perú-Waka' (original) (raw)
Related papers
The Queen's Serpent: An Examination of the Serpent Vessel from Burial 61 from El Perú-Waka'
In 2012, Dr. Olivia Navarro-Farr and her team uncovered the tomb of a Maya ruler in a large ceremonial structure at the site of El Perú-Waka’ in the Petén region of Guatemala. Specialists, subsequently, identified these remains as those of Lady K’abel, a queen already well known from texts associated with the ancient city. This study will explore one of the artifacts found in the tomb, called the War Serpent Vessel, found at the Kaloompte’s feet. I will propose that the iconographic depictions on this artifact represent a supernatural Serpent that emerges from this vessel. I suggest that this vessel acted as a cave through which this Serpent would have emerged during ritual activities. Its position at the feet of the interred emphasizes its interpretation as a metaphorical cave that emerges from the sacred mountain, on which rulers often stand in royal portraiture, as seen in Waka’ Stela 34.
Burial 61 at El Perú-Waka's Structure M13-1
Latin American Antiquity, 2021
Structure M13-1 is a public monumental building in the heart of ancient El Perú-Waka', Petén, Guatemala, and is the location of Burial 61, an entombed Late Classic (seventh-century) ruler. In this report, we discuss mortuary evidence that we believe permits identification of the interred as the historically known queen, Lady K'abel.
Weaving the Past: An Examination of Bones Buried with an Elite Maya Woman
Weaving has been a succinctly female activity in the Mesoamerican region of Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and the other countries of Central America for hundreds of centuries. For the modern Maya the fabrics and patterns woven are at the core of a woman’s identity and a crucial source of family sustenance. For the ancient Maya cloth and fabric were used in their tribute activities – gifts of food and cloth created ties, alliances, and allegiances. The symbol of ascending to rulership in ancient Maya writing and sculpture was encapsulated in the action of tying on a cloth headband. Clearly, the production of fabric was an essential activity performed by Maya women. This study examines a set of bones inscribed with glyphs calling them the bone pins of an elite Maya woman. These bones were probably specifically meant for use in weaving and were given a place of honor, indicating their significance and worth as elite objects and tools, by being buried with her as funeral goods along with a cache of valuable and elite objects. Using a categorical and iconographical analysis and utilizing the clues left behind in the glyphs adorning these bones, this study uncovers who this woman probably was and what her role might have been in the royal household she lived in. She was probably a royal woman, maybe a princess, or even a queen, who had ties with a ruler of Naranjo, a city in northeastern Guatemala near the border with Belize. She shares titles with some of the prominent queens of that city, and is labeled as a royal woman of high status by these titles as well. The number of bones buried with the lady of this analysis may signify that she was a master weaver. Since fabrics and their distribution were so important to the political system of the ancient Maya it is logical to believe that fabrics by certain weavers who had proved themselves as masters would have been sought after, much in the way that ceramic vessels from certain workshops of high quality were desired. Along with monuments from Naranjo and other city-states, which tell of women acting as rulers, ambassadors, and politicians, these unique utensils, rare in the archaeological corpus, suggest that the role of elite women was integral to the function of rulership and Maya society.
A Postclassic Maya mass grave from Zacpetén, Guatemala
Duncan, WN, K Schwarz. 2015. A Postclassic Maya mass grave from Zacpetén. Journal of Field Archaeology 40(2):143-165. Here we present a bioarchaeological analysis of a Postclassic (ca. a.d. 950–1524) Maya mass grave from the site of Zacpetén in northern Guatemala. Osteological and spatial analyses (including a Ripley’s K function) found evidence of cutting, drilling, and grinding of long bones and teeth as well as the intentional removal and manipulation of skeletal elements based on the left or right sides of the body. The remains were enveloped in layers of cut blocks and fist-sized chunks of white limestone and were placed in a depression on the western side of the ceremonial core of the site. The western orientation of the depression was explicitly associated with the underworld in contrast with the temple on the eastern side of the ceremonial core. The grave was the product of exhumation and violation of enemies’ bodies, sacrifice, or the burial of war dead (or some combination thereof) and was created when the Kowoj group emerged as a political force in the Petén lakes region. It served to symbolically rupture the past inhabitants’ links to the site and to create an enduring symbol of their defeat.
Re-interpreting a Complex Maya Burial at Tutu Uitz Na
2020
In 2017, John Walden led an excavation of the Tutu Uitz Na intermediate elite center, found in the Maya site of Lower Dover, Belize. He and his team uncovered two burials, designated SG1-BU2 and SG1-BU3. Their initial report claims that there were three individuals, all sacrificially bound and killed within an eastern triadic shrine. In 2019, Dr. Kirsten Green-Mink and Justine Bye, both of the University of Montana, re-analyzed the Tutu Uitz Na burials and performed a comprehensive bioarchaeological analysis. SG1-BU2 was found to contain three individuals-2 adults and 1 subadult. SG1-BU3 contained one adult, likely of high status as they presented cranial and dental modifications. None of the individuals were found to have any binding material, nor did the layout of the skeletal elements strongly validate a sacrificial theory. We propose that alternative scenarios be considered in explaining the presence of these interments in the Tutu Uitz Na eastern triadic shrine. The purpose of the 2019 analysis is to better explain mortuary behavior and the identities of those interred within the highly ritualized space of the eastern triadic shrine.
HOMO - Journal of Comparative Human Biology, 2004
The present investigation aims at contributing to the ongoing discussion on the unconfirmed identity of the Red Queen, a Classic Maya dignitary discovered in Temple XIII at Palenque, Mexico, by comparing her reconstructed facial profile to the portraiture of known female personages from the site. The comparison rests upon individual cranial features, like buccal prognatism, nasal root and inclination, chin prominence and the artificially shaped forehead. The similarities between the reconstruction, the female's funerary mask and local portraiture appear to identify the Red Queen as Lady Ix Tz'akb'u Ajaw (Ahpo Hel), the wife of Janaab' Pakal, one of the famous Maya rulers of the Classic Period. The proposed match and her family relationship with the king might explain the spatial closeness of their burial places in the Temple of the Inscriptions and Temple XIII.
Contributions in New World Archaeology, 2016
Recent investigations at the Maya centre of Nakum (located in northeastern Guatemala) included intensive excavations of Structure X (a.k.a. Structure 104)-one of the largest pyramidal temples at this site. This research showed that the first major version of this building consisted of a three-terraced platform dated to the Middle Preclassic period (750-300 bc), which was part of an important complex, the so-called E-Group. Such groups constitute the oldest manifestation of monumental architecture in the Maya Lowlands. With time, Structure X was converted into a large pyramidal structure in which several burials were situated during the Classic period (ad 250-800), making it an important mausoleum with interments of important elite members of local society. One of these burials (no. 8) was discovered below the floor of the temple building located on top of the pyramid and was a richly equipped tomb. It is most likely the resting place of one of the Nakum kings reigning during the Early-Late Classic transition (c. ad 550-650). This tomb had 11 vessels, including beautiful examples of polychrome Maya ceramics (representing different supernatural beings), many marine materials, five stingray spines and other artefacts. The tomb chamber was also covered by a deposit consisting of several thousand flint flakes that most probably had some symbolic meaning. In this article we discuss ancient Maya burial customs as documented in Structure X and present it in a wider perspective. We also describe similar lithic deposits associated with some of the richest Lowland Maya tombs and present their meaning and symbolism. Resumen Las investigaciones recientes en el centro maya de Nakum (localizado en el Noreste de Guatemala) incluyeron excavaciones intensivas del Edificio X (también conocido como Edificio 104)-uno de los templos piramidales más grandes en este sitio. Los trabajos de investigación demostraron que la primera versión mayor de este edificio consistió en una plataforma de tres terrazas fechada para el período Preclásico Medio (750-300 a.C.), la que formaba parte de un complejo importante de edificaciones al que se denomina como tipo Grupo E. Este tipo de grupos constituyen la manifestación mas antigua de la arquitectura monumental en las Tierras Bajas Mayas. Con el tiempo, el Edificio X fue convertido en una piramide grande, en la cual durante el período Clásico (250-800 d.C.) fueron depositados varios entierros, lo que le convierte en un mausoleo importante que contiene sepulturas de los miembros de la elite local. Uno de estos entierros (No. 8) es una tumba con una rica