The Controversial Mayan Queen: Sak K'uk of Palenque (The Mists of Palenque) (28 page)

“Who is that girl?” snapped Sak K’uk.

“Her name is Yonil, daughter of Oaxac Ok,” answered Pasah Chan.

“She is dancing too close to him. That is not proper.”

“He does not seem to mind.”

“It is I who mind! What she does is very suggestive. How can noble girls behave so?” Sak K’uk huffed.

“They are young, their bodies are full of passions, and they are lost in the music.”

“This music is unfitting,” she complained, then fell silent and watched her son. She had never seen him this way, and it unnerved her. His bare shoulders and chest muscles rippled and gleamed in the torchlight; his feet stepped confidently in the complex dance patterns. White teeth glinted as he smiled at his partner, displaying the carved “Ik” pattern in his two front incisors. He moved closer still until their bodies brushed and both laughed, unaware or unconcerned with disapproving elders.

“Water and fire mix within his veins to ignite the boiling vapor of sexual desire,” observed Pasah Chan softly.

“Let him spend more time with the Lunar Priestess!” hissed Sak K’uk. “Is that not her work? He need not expend his sexual urges on these young women.”

“Ah, Ixik Sak K’uk, it is not the same. The Lunar Priestess is a professional trainer, she is older and experienced and dispassionate. Yes, he knows sexual pleasure with her as well as perfecting techniques of sex magic, but there is little emotion. The heart is not enflamed and he does not sip the intoxication of young love. Look at him. You can feel the rising passions, the thumping heart and the swelling groin.”

She took a deep breath and turned her head again to observe Pakal. The dance ended and he bowed, touching fingers with Yonil and whispering in her ear. She giggled and fluttered her eyelids, looking down then back up into his eyes. They were standing so close together that Sak K’uk knew they felt the heat radiating from each other’s bodies.

“Pakal is a handsome young man,” said Pasah Chan. “He is striking in his presence and power. These are irresistible combinations for young noble women. Even if he were not ruler, he would attract women. Being ruler makes him the ultimately potent sexual symbol. Any young woman in Lakam Ha would give everything for him.”

Sak K’uk swallowed and looked back at the High Priest.

“What you say is true. It is clear to see, tonight has revealed it to me beyond doubt.”

“These women will pursue him, for they cannot help themselves. He is remarkably clear-minded and strong-willed, but when the fire of sexual passion burns in his veins, he may not be able to contain it despite all his training. Is it not better to select a suitable wife and provide him the proper channel for this drive? Then can he harness this immense sexual energy for the creative projects needed to fully restore Lakam Ha.”

Sak K’uk equivocated once again. Angry demons of jealousy tore at her heart. She was shocked by the scene she had witnessed, for it clearly revealed Pakal’s enthusiastic response to the young woman’s sexual charms.

“It will be necessary to find the proper consort, but it will take time, considerable time,” she said. “We must make the absolutely correct choice and there are many qualifications the woman must have. Kan Mo’ and I shall meet and discuss these, begin considering noble daughters in our city and others. Yes, it will take time.”

Somewhat reassured by the thought of a lengthy search, she gazed again at the plaza where dancers were turning and stepping. Soft laughter mingled with clinking disks and rhythmic music, but all felt flat to Sak K’uk. She would not yet give up her son to another woman. She would delay this process as long as possible. She would find reasons to seek a wife for Pakal from outside of Lakam Ha, someone who would not usurp her in his heart.

“We must avoid his involvement with young women here,” Pasah Chan advised. “Pakal must not be touched by any hint of impropriety, nor dissipate his energies in sensual indulgences. I will speak of this to him, and soon.”

“With that I am in full agreement. No further contact with this nubile Yonil will be allowed. She is completely unsuitable for royal wife.”

Pasah Chan raised his eyebrows, surprised by the charge with which Sak K’uk spoke about the girl. He perceived spiteful emotions and wondered from what source these welled. Yonil came from a minor noble family without solid bloodlines, but that did not totally disqualify her as the ruler’s wife. Deciding to avoid this charged topic, he still pressured the ruler’s mother to proceed with searching for a consort.

“Speak quickly with Kan Mo’ Hix and set up the search delegation. Finding a wife for Pakal should not be delayed.”

“Yes, yes,” Sak K’uk said, looking annoyed. “It is so, it must be done. We will begin the search for a royal consort for Pakal. Tomorrow will I speak to Kan Mo’ Hix and give my consent.”

July 30, 1994

Big news at the archeological camp today! We just heard a rumor that the Mexican archeological institute INAH is sending Arturo Romano Pacheco to Palenque to examine the skeleton in the Temple XIII sarcophagus. Romano is Mexico’s leading physical anthropologist, chosen to examine Pakal’s skeleton when it was found forty-two years ago. Our entire team is very excited. Our discovery two months ago of the Temple XIII substructure with its pristine sarcophagus, containing bones of a person given a rich burial, is getting the attention it deserves. It’s not official yet that Romano is coming, but word got out through the reporter who covered the opening of the sarcophagus lid on June 1
^st
. Adriana Malvido has written several articles for her newspaper
La Journada
detailing our discoveries and bringing them to the public. We owe her a big
gracias
for these insightful articles.

Curious to find out the skeleton’s sex, Adriana interviewed some specialists in Mexican archeology and physical anthropology, including Arturo Romano Pacheco. He noted that the absence of inscriptions was unusual for Palenque, a city with panels and walls full of glyphs. Fanny Lopez Jimenez, our team member who uncovered the substructure in Temple XIII, thinks the lack of inscriptions points toward a woman’s interment. We know that several carved reliefs at Palenque emphasize the important function of royal women. Several are shown handing objects of power to their sons, including Sak K’uk giving the “drum major hat” to Pakal. This extraordinary role of women was depicted most often in Palenque, but is portrayed at other sites such as Yaxchilan. The sides of Pakal’s sarcophagus in the Temple of the Inscriptions are carved with both his female and male ancestors, honoring the role of royal women and acknowledging the rulership of Yohl Ik’nal and Sak K’uk.

If the person interred in Temple XIII is a woman, she is obviously very important to be buried in this structure joined to Pakal’s pyramid. Everyone believes this would lead to politically important repercussions. One concerns the controversy over Pakal’s age at death, and the split between Mexican and North American archeological schools of thought. Las Mesas Redondas de Palenque (Round Tables) organized by Merle Greene Robertson in 1973 brought together the first interdisciplinary teams – archeologists, anthropologists, epigraphers, linguists, art historians – to work on deciphering the glyphs at Palenque. This group interpreted the names and dates of Palenque’s ruling dynasty and produced a “king list.” They proved that Mayan writing was a true work of literature and told the histories of rulers and cities.

Unfortunately, very few Mexican archeologists participated in the Round Tables. The politics of the time led to animosities and growing disagreement between the schools of thought. Mexicans believed the North Americans were not giving enough weight to their discoveries, especially Alberto Ruz’ and Arturo Romano’s work with the tomb of Pakal. The North Americans held that Pakal was 80 years old at death based on epigraphy; Ruz and Romano stated he was around 40 based on physical anthropology.

Now with a new skeleton to analyze in Temple XIII, this question will be revisited. Advances in scientific methods of bone analysis, including regional mineral content and DNA, will give us firmer conclusions. This work could lead to “a great un-sticking” of Mexican archeology, as Adriana Malvido so astutely writes.

At the Palenque camp, we feel it could be explosive – especially if the bones turn out to be a woman’s.

Arturo Romano explained in an interview how these advances in technology would give answers. A comparison between the bones of Pakal and the person interred in Temple XIII would reveal whether they are related. Better restoration techniques now available will preserve bones for future analysis, though it’s a costly and time-consuming process. Romano looked at photos of the new discovery, noting that the sarcophagus is much deeper than Pakal’s, that the position of the skeleton’s feet showed that it was shrouded upon burial, and that the skull had the typical royal cranial deformation. Since there was no bone deterioration from insects, it proved that the tomb was perfectly sealed.

He concluded, “This is a great discovery. It is another link in the chain of knowledge about the Mayas. Congratulations to the archeologists at Palenque and we wait for results of their studies.”

Soon Romano will come to Palenque to visit the tomb. He wants to see the skeleton
in situ
for his initial analysis. Like forensic pathology, physical anthropology knows that seeing the evidence in its natural setting provides important clues. As soon as he finishes his examination, we will prepare the bones for transportation to the INAH laboratories in Mexico City.

What we are all eagerly anticipating is his conclusion about the sex of the mysterious inhabitant of Temple XIII.

My roommate at the archeological camp, Sonia Cardenas and I like to chat about Maya archeology and review timelines of the discoveries at Palenque. Since we both specialize in restoration our discussions often focus on how data were obtained and preserved in the steamy tropical jungles of the Maya world. In his upcoming visit, Romano will examine the tomb and skeleton and take many photographs. We reviewed how field photography has changed over time and contributed to research.

Photography initiated a new era in documentation of Maya ruins. Before the camera, on-site drawings or white paper cast molds were the best techniques available. Drawings depended on the skill and perseverance of the artist, and molds were subject to melting in the extremely wet and humid tropical climate. In 1839 Daguerre invented the first camera using a complicated “wet” chemical process. The enterprising French explorer Desiré de Charnay used this camera on his expedition to Palenque in 1860. He spent nine days there, using the cumbersome process to take the first photos of the ruins.

One important image shows the central tablet from the Temple of the Cross. Charnay found it where John L. Stephens and Frederick Catherwood saw it earlier, described in their popular book
Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas and Yucatan
(1841). It was abjectly lying by a stream and covered with muddy debris. He cleaned it and lifted it sideways for better light, taking the first photo of this famous piece. The missing right tablet had found its way to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. Partly due to Charnay’s work, all three tablets have now been united in Mexico’s Museo Nacional de Antropología.

A folio of Charnay’s photographs of Palenque and other Maya sites was issued in 1863. This prompted Australian Teobert Maler to launch his field career in photographic documentation of Maya sites. In the summer of 1877, he went to Palenque and took a series of excellent photos of the Palace and Cross Group, using the cumbersome wet process with a large format camera. His photos are the clearest early images of tablets, stelae and lintels from Palenque and a wide range of undiscovered sites. What lay behind these discoveries was chicle, the basic ingredient of chewing gum, increasingly popular with North Americans. Chicle trees grew abundantly in Central American tropical forests, and opportunistic chicleros cut hundreds of trails through the Peten that uncovered dozens of unknown Maya cities.

Maler received funding from Harvard’s Peabody Museum to explore and survey these newly found sites, and from 1901 to 1911 he took numerous excellent photographic plates of sites now called Yaxchilan, Piedras Negras, Seibal and Tikal. The accuracy of his work provided a foundation for later decipherment of Maya glyphs.

English explorer Alfred P. Maudslay took invaluable photos at Palenque in 1891, producing exceptionally clear images of sculptures and glyphs. Technical progress in cameras made his work possible. Factory-made, ready-to-use photographic dry plates became available three years before his expedition. Images taken by new cameras on dry plates were far superior to the old wet plate process. Maudslay also made paper molds of stone and stucco reliefs, facing the same issues as Charnay. In one disastrous rainstorm, three weeks of molds were transformed into a sodden blob, so the tedious procedure had to be done over.

The trip that Maudslay made to Palenque interests me, since it reveals much about the region and its people, my people. From Progreso at the northern tip of the Yucatan Peninsula, he took a boat bound for Frontera at the mouth of the Grijalva River. A bad storm forced them into port at Laguna de Terminos (now Ciudad del Carmen), the lagoon outlet of the other navigable river leading to the Usumacinta, the major artery of river travel. After two weeks clearing customs despite ample official permissions from the Mexican government, he secured a small steamer to take his equipment up-river to the village of Montecristo (now Emiliano Zapata). Finding pack-mules and carriers was difficult and he faced the same problems that plagued most expeditions of his time.

Maudslay commented, “As the Indians had all been hopelessly drunk the night before, we did not get off very early, although our efforts to start commenced before dawn, and what with bad mules, sulky muleteers, and half-drunken Indians we had a hard day of it.”

The ruins of Palenque were 40 miles from Montecristo, so they went first to Santo Domingo de Palenque (my village). Maudslay described it as a sleepy little village of twenty houses with one grassy street leading to a thatched church. A few white stucco houses lined the grassy square, with Indian huts (palapas) scattered around. When Chiapas was part of Guatemala, the town was on the main trade route but this commerce had been diverted. The village was struck by cholera that wiped out half the population. Many of the homes were abandoned and falling into ruin. Palenque village was “so far out of the world” that he was surprised to find the two most important inhabitants were sons of a Frenchman and a Swiss doctor.

Trouble with workers seemed endemic. Maudslay asked for 30 laborers, and the jefe políticos (leaders) of local towns promised them, but only 15 showed up and that quickly dwindled to three. Finally he got 20 men from the nearby Chol Maya village of Tumbala (my grandmother’s family is from there). His team included an engineer, a young Frenchman planning to write books about his travels, and some cooks. At the Palenque ruins, they set up beds and camp furniture in the Palace corridor by the eastern court, supposedly the driest area. “Driest” was a relative term, however.

Maudslay wrote, “The great forest around us hung heavy with wet, the roof above us was dripping water like a slow and heavy rainfall, and the walls were glistening and running with moisture . . . ”

Despite unpredictable laborers, Maudslay’s team managed to cut down many trees around the structures, clear out the Palace eastern court, and remove all but one of the trees growing from the Palace Tower. The top story of the Tower was half destroyed and the whole in danger of falling over in heavy winds. To prepare Palace piers for photography, they had to remove limestone incrustations that formed small stalactites on the pier faces. The limestone coating varied from a thin film to 5 or 6 inches thick, and it took six weeks to remove it carefully with hammer taps and scraping. Underneath they found colors of the stucco paintings still fresh and bright in some places.

Next came photography, requiring platforms supported by scaffolding. The piers sat on narrow terraces above stairways, and Maudslay needed to get enough distance to frame good pictures. His engineer made plane-table surveys of the site center, producing detailed floor plans of the Palace and other structures that are still among the most accurate ever done.

Maudslay suffered from malaria contracted in Nicaragua, but his health was good during the four months at Palenque. Despite many difficulties and “hot and mosquito-plagued nights” he recalled pleasures such as finding a cool breezy spot where they escaped mosquito attacks and enjoyed “the beauty of the moonlit nights when we sat smoking and chatting on the western terrace looking onto the illumined face of the ruin (Temple of the Inscriptions) and the dark forest behind it . . . “