There is not much information about women in political and ruling contexts and it is believed that men were usually the foundation of ruling dynasties. However, a few cases of women in political power gives us a more open understand of political and ruling systems and how they were possibly founded. Although these women aren't the case for all women, they help archaeologists and researchers study how the Maya were not as strict as once believed and women at times successfully held and wielded political and ruling power. There are three examples of Maya women playing important roles as rulers and founders of dynasties at the Maya sites of Yaxchilan, Palenque, and Copan.
Palenque
The first female ruler recorded was Yohl Ik'nal of Palenque (Martin and Grube 2000). She succeeded Kan B'alam I after his death; it is believed he had no male heirs so the throne passed to her. It is believed that she is buried in a vaulted tomb under Temple 20. At Waka' an unnamed queen was found buried in a tomb filled with over 1,000 artifacts. Among these artifacts was found a jade helmet and jade deity carving, only worn by Maya rulers. While her skull and leg bones are not present the rest of her bones remained intact and are able to pin point her age between 30 and 45 (Martin and Grube 2000). Stingray spines, used in the bloodletting ceremony, are placed on her pelvic bones. Because of their placement it suggests her position as having aspects of both male and female. I will later discuss reasoning behind this in the Bloodletting section.
Copan
At Copan,a large untouched tomb was uncovered to show that a woman was buried there. Known as the Margarita Tomb, it has an upper and lower level with the royal woman buried on the lower level with the funerary slab. The largest cache vessel was found under the funerary slab holding over 2,000 offerings (Schuster 1996). The remnants of food and textiles along with two pyrite mirrors, bone needles, jade and shell beads, two grinding stones, pearl ear flares, and gourds filled with cinnabar. On one of the poly-chrome vessels recovered from the burial displays a figure wearing a decorated headdress (ScienceDaily 2012). This helps in recognizing this woman as royalty of some sort. Also on one of the pyrite mirrors is decorated the image of a serpent who is usually associated with religious ceremonies and a connection to the underworld. A multitude of colored needles were also found that indicate a burial costume that depicts the woman as the Moon Goddess (Schuster 1996). This could indicate that the woman held an important role as a religious communicator. Whether this woman served as a ruler, royal priest, or founder of a dynastic line, she is considered through the elaboration of her burial as someone of great importance that wielded much power during her life over the people of Copan.
Yaxchilan
Lady Xoc is regarded as one of the most prominent and well known women in the Maya world; she was queen consort to her husband and nephew, Itzamnaaj B'alam II who rules over Yaxchilan during the Classic Era (Martin and Grube 2000). She, unlike any other woman in Maya history, is recorded on 3 lintels of structure 23 performing religious rituals. She plays the central role in all 3 lintels; she is performing the bloodletting ceremony, communicating with the ancestors, and preparing the warrior king Shield Jaguar for battle. In the last lintel she is also shown wearing an elaborate headdress usually depicted only being worn by kings on other pictures throughout the site (Bruhns and Stothert 1999). Lady Xoc's house has also been established through the multiple lintels adoring it displaying her taking part in numerous political, social, and religious roles.
I would like to note the similarities in the art styles between the Maya and people in the Andes. While looking for images of stelae I often ran into similar art forms in the Andes, the location of the ancient Inca. There is a particular part that seems to resignate rituals of communing with the ancestors in some of these stelae from the Andes, much like we see the the stelae above of Lady Xoc perfoming the bloodletting ceremony. NEXT
There is not much information about women in political and ruling contexts and it is believed that men were usually the foundation of ruling dynasties. However, a few cases of women in political power gives us a more open understand of political and ruling systems and how they were possibly founded. Although these women aren't the case for all women, they help archaeologists and researchers study how the Maya were not as strict as once believed and women at times successfully held and wielded political and ruling power. There are three examples of Maya women playing important roles as rulers and founders of dynasties at the Maya sites of Yaxchilan, Palenque, and Copan.
Palenque
Copan
At Copan,a large untouched tomb was uncovered to show that a woman was buried there. Known as the Margarita Tomb, it has an upper and lower level with the royal woman buried on the lower level with the funerary slab. The largest cache vessel was found under the funerary slab holding over 2,000 offerings (Schuster 1996). The remnants of food and textiles along with two pyrite mirrors, bone needles, jade and shell beads, two grinding stones, pearl ear flares, and gourds filled with cinnabar. On one of the poly-chrome vessels recovered from the burial displays a figure wearing a decorated headdress (ScienceDaily 2012). This helps in recognizing this woman as royalty of some sort. Also on one of the pyrite mirrors is decorated the image of a serpent who is usually associated with religious ceremonies and a connection to the underworld. A multitude of colored needles were also found that indicate a burial costume that depicts the woman as the Moon Goddess (Schuster 1996). This could indicate that the woman held an important role as a religious communicator. Whether this woman served as a ruler, royal priest, or founder of a dynastic line, she is considered through the elaboration of her burial as someone of great importance that wielded much power during her life over the people of Copan.
Yaxchilan
Lady Xoc is regarded as one of the most prominent and well known women in the Maya world; she was queen consort to her husband and nephew, Itzamnaaj B'alam II who rules over Yaxchilan during the Classic Era (Martin and Grube 2000). She, unlike any other woman in Maya history, is recorded on 3 lintels of structure 23 performing religious rituals. She plays the central role in all 3 lintels; she is performing the bloodletting ceremony, communicating with the ancestors, and preparing the warrior king Shield Jaguar for battle. In the last lintel she is also shown wearing an elaborate headdress usually depicted only being worn by kings on other pictures throughout the site (Bruhns and Stothert 1999). Lady Xoc's house has also been established through the multiple lintels adoring it displaying her taking part in numerous political, social, and religious roles.
I would like to note the similarities in the art styles between the Maya and people in the Andes. While looking for images of stelae I often ran into similar art forms in the Andes, the location of the ancient Inca. There is a particular part that seems to resignate rituals of communing with the ancestors in some of these stelae from the Andes, much like we see the the stelae above of Lady Xoc perfoming the bloodletting ceremony.
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