title: Who was the Red Queen? Identity of the female Maya dignitary from the sarcophagus tomb of Temple XIII, Palenque, Mexico.
abstract: The present investigation aims at contributing to the ongoing discussion on the unconfirmed identity of the Red Queen, a Classic Maya dignitary discovered in Temple XIII at Palenque, Mexico, by comparing her reconstructed facial profile to the portraiture of known female personages from the site. The comparison rests upon individual cranial features, like buccal prognatism, nasal root and inclination, chin prominence and the artificially shaped forehead. The similarities between the reconstruction, the female's funerary mask and local portraiture appear to identify the Red Queen as Lady Ix Tz'akb'u Ajaw (Ahpo Hel), the wife of Janaab' Pakal, one of the famous Maya rulers of the Classic Period. The proposed match and her family relationship with the king might explain the spatial closeness of their burial places in the Temple of the Inscriptions and Temple XIII.
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Ciencias Antropológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Calle 76 n 455 LL 41 y 43, Centro, CP 97000, Mérida, Yucatán, México. vtiesler@hotmail.com
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Tiesler
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cucina
authors.forename: A Romano
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Pacheco
mesh_terms: D002048:Burial; D005145:Face / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D005260:Female; D018732:Forensic Anthropology / Q000379:methods*; D049690:History, Ancient; D006801:Humans; D008800:Mexico; D008875:Middle Aged; D012886:Skull / Q000033:anatomy & histology*