Palenque the Archaeological Site

February 16, Day 4, the day dedicated to exploring the Archaeological Site of Palenque. We had looked forward to spending more time as this was our 4th ( 5th?) time here. Temples 19,20, and 21 had been excavated and books published since our last visit. David Stuart's recently published book on his interpretation of these three temples left us intrigued with the thoughts of being able to actually see what he wrote about. Unfortunately for us, this time these temples were off limits as was the Temple of the Inscriptions. During our 1992 visit to Palenque we had been able to descend into the depths of the Temple of the Inscriptions and see the tomb of Pacal. To have all of the above unavailable was a big disappointment.

We made an early start this morning in order to avoid the heat in the afternoon. Ricardo led us first to the Tomb of Pacal's Wife, which was unexplored on our previous visits. The right side of the collage are photos taken inside the tomb showing the sarcophagus and interior structure. The two pictures in the upper left are of the famous Tablet of the 96 Glyphs (photo taken in the Museum) important because it tells the dynastic history of Palenque. Originally it was found upside down in the ruins and was broken as workmen tried to move it. We were able to tour the labyrinth under the Palace, enterd through the dark archway (right middle) which was new to us. Picture of the Palace interior with tower is followed by a picture (from outside) of the Temple of the Inscriptions. Further down in the center are the Tablet of the Slaves, stone carvings about five feet tall. The rest are carved inscriptions and wall stucco reliefs that are badly eroded, found in the Palace hallways.

From the Palace we proceeded to the Cross Group where Ricardo gave us a description of their origins. This Group was constructed by Kan Balam, son of Pacal I in honor of his father. The group is comprised of three temples dedicated to a Triad of Gods.

The collage below is of the Cross Group: top left is the Temple of the Cross, top right is Foliated Cross, and middle and lower left is Temple of the Sun. It is not clear which temple is dedicated to which god, but they represent the Rising Sun, the Setting Sun and the Dark Sun (night). Upper right is of some people standing at the entrance of the Temple of the Foliated Cross with Bibi waving (red shirt) and a telephoto shot of Bibi from the temple of the Cross. Center and lower left is Temple of the Sun. Carved panels, lower right are what is left of the original inscriptions of the Temple of the Cross.

Palenque Ruins from Temple of the Cross.
From this point we descended from the Cross Group walking passed the Main entrance of the Palace to the grounds beyond.