The secrets revealed by the discovery of a skeleton in Palenque

He National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) presented the first analysis of the female remains located in May 2022, which shows important data on the way she lived, her diet and even the diseases from which she suffered. It is estimated that He died between the ages of 45 and 50. according to the limit of life expectancy in pre-Hispanic times.

Observations of remains named as Mrs SAS, were presented by the team made up of the archaeologist, Luis Nunez Enriquez and physical anthropologists, Mirian Camacho Martinez there Lucia Lopez Mejia, who are attached to Palenque Archaeological Project (PAP), which is run by the Federal Ministry of Culture, in coordination with the INAH.

The members of the PAP endorsed the hypotheses put forward by the field archaeologists. concerning the age of the individual located nearly a year ago as part of the rescue of the health zone of Palenquein the works of Archaeological Areas Improvement Program (Promeza), which are carried out during support works for the construction of the Mayan trend.

Luis Núñez Enríquez, Head of Section of Osteoarchaeology of the PAP, underlined that among the defining sexual traits is not only the pelvis, wider than that of men to facilitate the development of pregnancy, but also other obvious dimorphisms, such as that of the glabella, a region of the skull that is smoother in women than in men.

The academic of Institute of Anthropological Research of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) indicated that it is believed that the madam sas died between 800 and 850 AD. on the basis of the found offering, composed of two complete vessels and a fragment, made with Lejancan ceramics of the time.

Regarding the intentional deformation of the upright tabular type skull, which enlarged it in width and height, Núñez Enríquez pointed out that in Lakamhaas Palenque was called, the cultural preference was for the oblique tubular head molding, “which elongated the skull backwards, while, as has been observed, the tabular erect was used by individuals outside the local pattern”.

This has led experts to propose that the madam sas may have been a stranger in the old kingdom, however, she was buried in an area near the site’s urban core. “Human burials in Palenque are usually located inside temples or in living areas, and in the space where we found this skeleton, it is neither. A possibility is that he is associated with this activity, and that those who worked in the workshop decided to bury him there“, recalling that according to what has been detailed by the INAH, the skeleton was found in a stone sculpture.

When he found it, a series of green stone inlays caught the eye on four of his front teeth and one canine. While clearing his bones, a tubular green stone bead was revealed that was also part of his keyring, but with the passage of time and the pressure of the Earth Matrix, it hid under his jawbone.

The symbolism of the inlays and the filing they presented some of the woman’s teeth, may be due to a relationship of economic and social statusunderlined the specialist.

Anthropophysical examinations investigated the pathologies that affected the madam sasamong which are tooth decay and tartar, in addition to indications of a diet based on carbohydrates such as corn, and animal protein. Also, they identified traces of scurvy on the skullwhich could be due to a lack of vitamin C during the first years of life.

The analysis concluded that the two indicated illnesses and other injuries, such as a fractured distal epiphysis, were healed at the time of death, therefore, his death was due to natural causesbetween 45 and 50 years, depending on the limit of life expectancy at that time.