All hail Lady Snake Lord -- at least what's left of her. Archeologists believe they have discovered the tomb of the great Mayan warrior queen in Guatemala, according to National Geographic. Her Snake-ness ruled the Wak kingdom for her family, the Kan or "Snake" dynasty, between A.D. 672 and 692, National Geographic wrote. She reigned as one of the most powerful rulers of the Classic Maya civilization. Her formal name was "Lady Ka'bel" but her serpentine moniker was far more colorful, Newser points out. The dig at El Peru-Waka's main pyramid temple produced a critical clue to the decayed bones' identity: a stone alabaster jar in the tomb that has the carved head of an old woman poking out of it. The lined, stern face matches historical accounts of the queen, and the carved hieroglyphics on the other side of the jar list her known nicknames, including Lady Snake Lord, NBC News reported. "It's as close as to a smoking gun as we can get in archeology," said expedition co-director David Freidel, an archeologist from Washington University in St. Louis. Other ceramic vessels discovered in the tomb and stone carvings on the outside also suggest the skeletal remains belong to Lady Snake Lord. However, there is the possibility that she handed down the jar as an heirloom to another royal who was ascending to the great beyond, Freidel told the university's website. David Stuart, a professor of Mesoamerican art and writing at the University of Texas at Austin, told National Geographic there was a "fair chance" it was Lady Snake Lord. In any case, Lady Snake Lord was one commanding potentate -- even at home, Freidel added. Her husband was king, but she alone carried the title of "Supreme Warrior," meaning she ruled over him, too.
By Mike McDonald
GUATEMALA CITY
Thu Oct 4, 2012 5:28am EDT
(Reuters) - Archaeologists in Guatemala have discovered the tomb of an ancient Mayan warrior queen packed with jade jewels and other artefacts that shed light on the long-vanished civilization, experts said on Wednesday.
Researchers from Guatemala and the United States uncovered the remains of Queen Kalomt'e K'abel, who reigned in the seventh century, at the Peru-Waka dig site in the sweltering Peten jungle region in northern Guatemala.
Inside the tomb, the team found a hoard of glistening jade jewels and a small alabaster vase decorated with the image of an older woman's face and inscribed with the queen's name, providing identification of the long-dead ruler.
"To discover something of this importance is very unusual," lead archaeologist David Freidel told Reuters. "She was the supreme warlord of her kingdom."
The remains were discovered in June but it has taken until now for experts to verify the identity of the queen.
The Central American nation is studded with pyramids and ruins from the ancient Mayan civilization, which thrived between AD 250 and 900 and extended from modern day Honduras to central Mexico.
Queen K'abel's portrait has appeared on Mayan plaques that associate her with the year 692 during the Mayan classic period, when her husband, king Wak K'inich Bahlam II, ruled.
Historians believe that K'abel reigned over Calakmul, a Mayan community which often battled the powerful king 'El Zotz' and his kingdom Tikal - just south of the border with present-day Mexico - where well-preserved ruins are a popular draw for tourists.
Deciphering the identities of ancient Mayan leaders from dig sites often proves a challenge. While rulers' tombs are often covered with ancient hieroglyphics and pictures, determining precise names is difficult, researchers said.
"We had made a lot of discoveries of objects making reference to this queen and now to complete it with her remains is very important," said Guatemalan archaeologist Griselda Perez. (Editing Tim Gaynor and Mohammad Zargham)
A team of US and Guatemalan experts led by anthropologist David Freidel found a stone jar at a burial chamber in the royal Maya city of El Peru-Waka that led them to believe it is the burial site of Lady K'abel, considered to be the military governor of an ancient Maya city during the 7th century.
Hieroglyphs on the back of the alabaster jar denote the names Lady Snake Lord and Lady Water Lily.
As well as the jar, which was carved in the shape of a conch shell with the shape of an old woman protruding from the front, the team found other evidence, such as ceramic vessels, jade jewellery, thousands of obsidian blades and a large stone with carvings referring to Lady K'abel. The items were buried with the body – presumably as offerings.
"Lady K'abel was buried 11 meters down from the surface in a temple near a stairway," Mr Freidel said. "K'abel was not a regular person. To put her in that location means that it was important; it means that people continued to worship her after the fall of the dynasty."
"The royal tomb shows that women have been leaders in the past and we must now assume and exercise political participation to strengthen the role of women in the new era," Rosa Maria Chan, deputy minister for cultural and natural heritage, said in the statement.
K'abel, considered the greatest ruler of the Late Classic period, ruled with her husband, K'inich Bahlam, for at least 20 years in the 7th century, Mr Freidel said. She was the military governor of the Waka kingdom for her family, the imperial house of the Snake King, and she carried the title "Kaloomte" – translated as "Supreme Warrior," higher in authority than her husband, the king.
Mr Freidel, who is from Washington University in St Louis, said the findings at the ruins of El Peru-Waka were "serendipitous."
"In retrospect, it makes a lot of sense that the people of Waka buried her in this particularly prominent place in their city," Mr Freidel said.
For Marcello A. Canuto, director of the Research Center of Central Tulane University in Louisiana, the alabaster identifies the tomb as that of the "Lady of Kaan" and noted there is a stela erected in her honour at the archaeological site.
"She has been given all the honours a male king would have been given," Canuto said. "It's not the first such tomb discovered, but it gives an idea of the important role women played in forging dynastic alliances, and the status they enjoyed."
Traci Ardren, associate professor of anthropology at the University of Miami and a Mayan archaeologist specialising in gender relations, said the traditional belief that Maya men occupied a more important place than women has to do with the amount of images in Mayan art that show men in positions of authority.
"People like Lady K'abel show there were examples of extraordinary women that were able to position themselves in powerful roles, were incredibly successful and were accepted by society," Ardren said
No comments:
Post a Comment