In plain sight: Mayan - Lord Pakal's Tomb

They always describe the skeleton as "tall"  never in exact terms and these are scientists!!! And a cone head to boot.

(Yes, a seven foot man is "tall")

The greatest find in Mayan archeology is not to be explained.!!!
I have yet to find a single photo of Pakal's complete skeleton... (Can't be shown?.)  Also described as "tall" without exact length...
Inconsistant age - supposedly 80, but the skeletons teeth looks 40....

No radio carbon dating - no DNA extraction.... He does not fit!!! - he cannot be shown
I'll keep looking, but I defy anyone to find an exact description (or a photo) of his skeleton. They make a big deal about his teeth but no photographs!

The Mayan pyramid relics located in Palenque ..."King Pacal regarded as a god and is a giant monster with a height of about 7 ft."



The monolithic sarcophagus is 5 feet 5 inches high, 6 feet 10 inches wide and 9 feet 9 inches long. The massive, 5 ton cover slab is 12 and one half feet long by 7 feet inches wide and 8 inches thick..."

http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/arqueologia/esp_tumba_pacal_3.htm
The sarcophagus and its covering slab were sculptured in place first.
The pyramid and stairs within it were built from the base up after the crypt was finished. The Temple of the Inscriptions is unique in all Mesoamerica in this respect.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K'inich_Janaab'_Pakal
...
His skeletal remains were still lying in his coffin, wearing a jade mask and bead necklaces, surrounded by sculptures and stucco reliefs depicting the ruler's transition to divinity and figures from Maya mythology.

That the bones within the tomb are really those of Pakal himself is under debate due to the fact that the analysis of wear on the skeleton’s teeth places the age of the owner at death as 40 years younger than Pakal would’ve been at his death

http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/egipto/fingerprintgods/fingerprintgods05.htm

Centre-stage, and overlooked by these figures, was a huge monolithic sarcophagus lidded with a five-ton slab of richly carved stone. Inside the sarcophagus was a tall skeleton draped with a treasure trove of jade ornaments.

Notice - 9 feet 9 inches long The top looks about a foot of stone and the bottom looks a foot and a 1/2 so  9'.9'' - 2'.6'' ~=  thats still 7' 3'' feet!!!

A mosaic death mask of 200 fragments of jade was affixed to the front of the skull. These, supposedly, were the remains of Pacal, a ruler of Palenque in the seventh century AD

The inscriptions stated that this monarch had been eighty years old at the time of his death, but the jade-draped skeleton the archaeologists found in the sarcophagus appeared to belong to a man half that age



http://mexicanhorse.tripod.com/ruz.htm
...
QUESTIONS WITHOUT ANSWERS YET

1. Did the carbon radioactive test indicate Pakal was 80-year old or 40-year old at the time of death? Why was the report buried in the archives and not presented in the archaeological conference?

His stature and strong complexion question the genetic origin of the true Pakal.

2. What was the cryogenic process that speed up the formation of stalactites and stalagmites?

The process of these geologic elements is usually very slow, only few milimeters every 1,000 years and a tomb, approximately 1,300 years old, should not have shown an advanced process of these underground natural formations.

http://quetzalresistance.blogspot.com/2011/02/quetzal-resistance.html

The Palenque ruins date back to 100 BC to its fall around 800 AD. After its decline it was absorbed back into the jungle...

Pakal was buried within the Temple of Insciptions. The secret to opening his tomb—closed off by a stone slab with stone plugs in the holes, which had until then escaped the attention of archaeologists—was discovered by Mexican archaeologist Alberto Ruz Lhuillier in 1948. It took four years to clear the rubble from the stairway leading down to Pakal’s tomb, but was finally uncovered in 1952.

His skeletal remains were still lying in his coffin, wearing a jade mask and bead necklaces, surrounded by sculptures and stucco reliefs depicting the ruler's transition to divinity and figures from Maya Mythology

http://www.legendarytimes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1168


http://www.flickr.com/photos/baggis/3580537357/


http://www.delange.org/PalenqueTomb/PalenqueTomb.htm

http://pushti-marg.net/bhagwat/palenque.htm
Of Palenque's 500 main buildings, only 34 have been excavated.
However, don't attempt to play Indiana Jones - it is illegal and dangerous.

Oh he died around 600 AD  so dna analysis would be great  right?  Also he was put into a air tight sarcophagus right? (and 5 ton slab on top and undisturbed right?  well read this, they say the skeleton is junk now!!! Huh? :
(oh and NO PHOTO'S )


http://www.wordtrade.com/history/america/mayaR.htm
...
The decades that have passed since the discovery of the tomb of Janaab' Pakal have witnessed major advances in our knowledge of the ancient Maya. Significant developments in epigraphic decipherment and a rap­idly growing corpus of new archaeological and bioanthropological data have restructured the playing field upon which debates about the ancient Maya are enacted. Whether or not Pakal would have wished for such at­tention, he has become a central figure in debates over the interpretation of Maya epigraphy and history. The identity of the skeletal remains in the sarcophagus in Palenque is not at issue, but Pakal's age at death continues to be a subject of debate among Maya specialists.

The chapters in this volume grew out of a multidisciplinary research project directed by Vera Tiesler and a symposium organized by Vera Ties­ler and Andrea Cucina for the Sixty-eighth Annual Meeting of the Society of American Archaeology in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in April 2003. They provide new and important data on Janaab' Pakal's life and death, draw­ing upon a reexamination of his skeletal remains in situ, new laboratory analyses of associated skeletal material, and comparative data from other archaeological and bioanthropological studies and from recent advances in Maya epigraphy. Although a consensus on Pakal's age at death has not been reached, the research and analyses presented here demonstrate the value of interdisciplinary approaches to reconstructing the lives of ancient Maya rulers.
...
Even disregarding the fragmentary condition of his remains, Pakal presents special challenges precisely because of the general age range that he falls into, whether one accepts the low (40-50 years) or the high esti­mate (80 years) of his age at death. Skeletal specialists are well aware of the great difficulty involved in estimating skeletal age in adults, particularly in those beyond 50 years. Few techniques attempt to enter this territory because of the great variability and idiosyncratic nature of age changes beyond the 50-year threshold. Some paleodemographers have developed mathematical approaches to simulate mortality profiles extending into older age classes. Although these models may be useful for predicting general tendencies, they are on less firm ground when applied to a single in­dividual who may show atypical or inconsistent age indicators. Attempts to age Pakal by comparing his skeletal age indicators to those of other elite burials at Palenque face the same problem of imprecision. Despite these major challenges, contributors to this volume attempt to resolve this and other issues surrounding the life and death of Pakal by employing some novel approaches.

The condition of Pakal's skeletal remains constitutes one of the principal problems in estimating his age at death, and one for which little can be done other than recognizing the limitations inherent in the analysis of fragmentary and poorly preserved skeletal material.

Poor skeletal pres­ervation is characteristic of the Maya area, as most contributors to this volume note, and Pakal's remains are no exception to the rule. Vera Ties­ler's recent examination of the skeleton indicates that it is only about 75 percent complete and poorly preserved. Taphonomic changes were noted at both the macroscopic and microscopic level, making both age determi­nation and other analyses problematic, and DNA extraction not possible. Despite these limitations, however, some observations were possible on degenerative changes in the vertebral column and joint surfaces of the appendicular skeleton. Also, Pakal's pubic symphyses and portions of his auricular surfaces were sufficiently preserved to allow for morphological observations. Preservation of a rib also was sufficient to attempt age as­sessment using histological methods.
...
Vera Tiesler reports on new findings made during a reexami­nation of Pakal's skeleton in 1999, including important new information on cranial modification, childhood health (no evidence of anemia, healed periostitis, or enamel hypoplasias), and mortuary treatment of Pakal's body.

http://www.moon.com/destinations/chiapas/palenque/palenque-town/palenque-archaeological-zone/temple-the-inscriptions
...
The centerpiece of the chamber is the massive sarcophagus, hewn from a single stone and topped by a flat four-meter-long (13-foot) five-ton slab of stone. The slab is beautifully carved with the figure of Pakal in death, surrounded by monsters, serpents, sun and shell signs, and many more glyphs that recount death and its passage. The walls of the chamber are decorated with various gods, from which scientists have deduced a tremendous amount about the Palencanos’ theology.

Working slowly to preserve everything in its pristine state, Ruz didn’t open the lid of the sarcophagus for six months. It then took a week of difficult work in the stifling, dust-choked room to finally lift the five-ton slab. On November 28, 1952, the scientists had their first peek inside. In the large rectangular sarcophagus they found another, body-shaped sarcophagus, within which was Pakal’s skeleton, with precious jewelry and special accoutrements to accompany him on his journey into the next world. A jade mosaic mask covered the face, under which his teeth had been painted red. (The mask was exhibited at the Museo Nacional de Antropología in Mexico City until December 24, 1985, when it was stolen along with several other precious historical artifacts. The mask was recovered in an abandoned house in Acapulco in 1989, mostly undamaged.)