The burial chamber. Queen K’abel’s skull is above the plate fragments. Credit: El Peru Waka Regional Archaeological Project

Archaeologists in Guatemala say they have discovered the 7th-century tomb of Lady K’abel, one of the greatest queens of classic Maya civilization.

Unearthed during excavations of the royal Maya city of El Perú-Waka’ in northwestern Petén, Guatemala, the grave contained the skeletal remains of a mature individual buried with rich offerings such as dozens of ceramic vessels, numerous carved jade, shell artifacts and a small, carved alabaster jar.

According to the archaeologists, the white vessel strongly suggest the tomb belonged to the warrior Queen Lady K’abel.

Carved as a conch shell, with a head and arm of an aged woman emerging from the opening, the alabaster jar portrayed a woman, mature with a lined face and a strand of hair in front of her ear, while on the other side it featured a brief glyphic text consisting of four hieroglyphs.

The final two glyphs named the owner as “Lady Waterlily-Hand, Princess of Calakmul.”

“This is almost certainly an alternative spelling of the name of Lady K’abel, as both names consist of hands holding waterlilies and both are titled as princesses of Calakmul,” David Freidel, professor of archaeology at Washington University in St. Louis and co-director of the expedition, said.

The most powerful person in Waka’ during her lifetime, Lady K’abel is known in Maya archaeology because of a beautiful and detailed portrait of her in a stela dated to 692 A.D. The carved stone slab was looted from Waka’ in the 1960s and is now in the Cleveland Art Museum.

Lady K’abel ruled with her husband, K’inich Bahlam, for at least 20 years (672-692 A.D.). She was the military governor of the Wak kingdom for her family, the imperial house of the Snake King, and carried the title Kaloomte’, which translates to “Supreme Warrior.”

“The significance of this woman’s powerful role as a ‘Kaloomte,’ a title rarely associated with Maya women, provides tremendous insight on the nexus of gender and power in Classic Maya politics,” Olivia Navarro-Farr, assistant professor of sociology and anthropology at The College of Wooster and co-director of the expedition, said.

The discovery of the tomb of the seventh-century Maya queen occurred while Navarro-Farr investigated “ritually potent” features at El Perú-Waka’, such as shrines, altars, and dedicatory offerings.

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