A Forest of Queens: The Legacy of Royal Calakmul Women at El Perú-Waka’s Central Civic-Ceremonial Temple

Summary

In 2012 archaeologists discovered Waka’s main civic-ceremonial temple was enshrined by numerous offerings as well as the construction of a monumental hearth and the placement of various fragments of carved stelae adorning the final platform phase. These fragments included previously unknown Stela 43 mentioning an ancestress and royal woman of Calakmul origin, Lady Ikoom. Excavations in the interior of the fronting platform revealed the tomb of Waka’s renowned Late Classic queen, Lady K’abel, built into an earlier construction phase. Also buried along the building’s centerline and in association with the sealing of Lady K’abel’s tomb was Stela 44. This monument features a standing ruler and bears lateral texts that also mention Lady Ikoom, in this instance with clearer historical context. Together, these monuments, the funerary assemblage, and the structure in which these elements are interred comprise an impressive tableau commemorating the importance of both these Early and Late Classic royal women from Calakmul who made their mark on Waka’s dynasty, sealing its role as a loyal vassal to that great superpower to the north.

SAA 2015 abstracts made available in tDAR courtesy of the Society for American Archaeology and Center for Digital Antiquity Collaborative Program to improve digital data in archaeology. If you are the author of this presentation you may upload your paper, poster, presentation, or associated data (up to 3 files/30MB) for free. Please visit http://www.tdar.org/SAA2015 for instructions and more information.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Contextualizing Maya History and Archaeology Part I: Reflections on the 25th Anniversary of Forest of Kings   •
• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage