[Aztlan] Palenque artifact?

[Elaine Day Schele]

Hello Again Listeros,

In case anyone was wandering whose mother I was referring to in my last
message when I wrote "His mother is not in the picture", I was of course
referring to the local chief's mother, not David Stuart's mother :).  

I might add that it is not unusual for those who have not studied Maya
iconography and carvings extensively, to frequently mistake males for
females and vice versa.  I believe that it is due to our own modern
preconceived ideas about how males and females are supposed to dress and be
represented in art.   

Elaine

-----Original Message-----
From: aztlan-bounces at lists.famsi.org [mailto:aztlan-bounces at lists.famsi.org]
On Behalf Of Nick Hopkins
Sent: Sunday, May 18, 2008 10:59 AM
To: Aztlan
Subject: [Aztlan] Palenque artifact?

In the May/June 2008 issue of Archaeology magazine, there is an  
interview with a choreographer who is reconstructing precolombian  
Maya dances for the tourist park at Xcaret.  He says one of his  
sources of inspiration is from Palenque:

"For example, at Palenque we were very pleased to be able to study  
the glyphs on a stone that was found about four years ago.  It  
depicts a local chief, his mother bearing a crown, his son, and  
several rats, which symbolize secrets.  From these scenes we begin  
constructing the ceremony..."

Rats?  Can anybody tell me what he is talking about?

Nick Hopkins
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