NEW MURALS FOUND IN A TOMB IN PALENQUE

Located 175 meters south of the Cross Group temples in Palenque, Chiapas, Temple XX stands directly on top of the most recently found tomb in the site. The chamber is 3.65 meters long, rectangular in shape, and has a sealed door at its southern end with jambs on either side.

When MUNDO MAYA 22 closed, July 2000, the tomb had not yet been opened. Little can be ascertained about the contents of the chamber, since it can only be viewed through a 10-centimeter square hole that was made at the top of the chamber. Regardless of the difficulty to carry on extensive research, many standing figures depicted on the walls have been discovered, and multitude of jade beads, eleven ceramic vessels and a portion of the skull of the occupant have also been identified.

A digital camera was inserted through the orifice, and photographs of the interior murals of the tomb were taken. The accuracy of the images obtained (see an example above) will not be fully understood until the tomb is opened.