The bones of an ancient Mayan ambassador depict a life of privilege and deprivation

An important Mayan man buried nearly 1,300 years ago led a privileged but difficult life. The man, a diplomat named Ajpach ‘Waal, suffered malnutrition or illness as a child, but as an adult he helped negotiate an alliance between two powerful dynasties that ultimately failed. The ensuing political instability left him in diminished economic circumstances, and he likely died in relative obscurity.

During excavations in El Palmar, a small plaza in Mexico near the border of Belize and Guatemala, archaeologists led by Kenichiro Tsukamoto, an assistant professor of anthropology at UC Riverside, discovered a hieroglyph-decorated staircase that led to a ceremonial platform. When deciphered, the hieroglyphs revealed that Ajpach ‘Waal traveled in June 726 CE and met the king of Copán, 350 miles away in Honduras, to forge an alliance with the king of Calakmul, near El Palmar.

The findings, published in the journal Latin American Antiquity, shed light on the role that communities peripheral to the great centers played in strengthening connections between royal families during the late classical period (AD 600-800), and the ways they might suffer as something shattering alliances .

The inscriptions identified Ajpach ‘Waal as a’ lakam ‘or standard bearer, an ambassador who carried a banner while on diplomatic missions between cities. He inherited this lofty position through his father’s lineage, and his mother was also from an elite family. Ajpach ‘Waal must have taken this as his crowning achievement, as the hieroglyphs indicate that he did not get the platform from the ruler of El Palmar, but had it built for himself a few months after the mission in September 726 CE. The platform served as a kind of theatrical stage where spectacular rituals were performed in front of an audience, with only influential people able to build their own.

Under the floor of a temple next to the platform, Tsukamoto discovered the undisturbed burial of a male skeleton in a small room. Although buried in a location that suggested he owned the platform and temple, unlike other elite Mayan burials, only two colorfully decorated clay pots – no jewelry or other grave goods – had taken this person into the underworld .

In the new article, Tsukamoto and Jessica I. Cerezo-Román, an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Oklahoma, study the bones of the person buried in this enigmatic grave to tell his story.

“His life is not what we expected based on the hieroglyphs,” said Tsukamoto. “A lot of people say the elite enjoyed their lives, but the story is usually more complex.”

The man was between 35 and 50 years old when he died. Various dating methods, including radiocarbon, stratigraphy, and ceramic typology, suggest that the burial took place around 726, when the staircase was built. The individual’s high status coupled with the proximity to the staircase led the authors to believe that it was likely Ajpach ‘Waal himself, or possibly his father.

All of his upper front teeth, from right canine to left, were drilled to hold decorative pyrite and jade implants, which were valuable and highly regulated. Mayans living in geographic areas associated with ruling elites underwent this painful procedure during puberty as a rite of passage to mark their entry into a high function or social group. Ajpach ‘Waal may have received such implants when he inherited the title from his father.

The skull was slightly flattened at the back from prolonged contact with something flat during childhood, which, according to the Maya, made a person more attractive. Because the front of the skull was not preserved, the archaeologists could not say whether the forehead was similarly flattened, an embellishment practice limited to royalty.

Other aspects of the bones contradicted the privilege of the dental and skull modifications. Some of his arm bones had healed periostitis, caused by bacterial infections, trauma, scurvy, or rickets, which would have caused his arm to hurt until the condition improved. Both sides of the skull had slightly porous, spongy areas known as porotic hyperostosis caused by nutritional deficiencies or childhood diseases. The condition is relatively common in funerals in the Mayan world, suggesting that Ajpach’s Walloon high status could not protect him from malnutrition and disease.

A healed fracture on his right shin or shin bone resembles fractures seen in modern athletes who play contact sports, such as soccer, rugby or football. This could indicate that he played some of the ball games depicted on the stairs, reinforcing the argument that this was Ajpach ‘Waal.

Long before he died, the person had lost many teeth on the left side of his lower jaw due to gum disease and possibly had a painful abscess on his lower right premolar, which would have limited his diet to soft foods. An inlaid tooth had thickened at the root in response to the drilling injury and could have hurt.

He also developed arthritis in his hands, right elbow, left knee, left ankle, and feet with age, which would have caused stiffness and pain, especially in the morning. Tsukamoto and Cerezo-Román suggest his arthritis may have been caused by carrying a banner on a pole for long distances over rough terrain and walking and up and down stairs. He would also have to kneel on the platforms of Mayan rulers.

As if these ailments weren’t enough, fate conspired to change Ajpach ‘Waal’s fortune.

“The ruler of a subordinate dynasty beheaded the king of Copán 10 years after his alliance with Calakmul, who was also defeated by a rival dynasty around the same time,” Tsukamoto said. “We see the political and economic instability that followed both events in the sparse funeral and in one of the inlaid teeth.”

The archaeologists determined that the inlay in the right canine tooth of Ajpach ‘Waal had fallen out and had not been replaced before his death because dental plaque had hardened into tartar in the cavity. The hole, easily visible when the man smiled or spoke, would have been an embarrassing public acknowledgment of deprivation or El Palmar’s diminished significance. This would also have made him a less useful emissary if he were still in the role.

Although people continued to live in El Palmar for some time after Ajpach ‘Waal’s death, it was eventually abandoned and reclaimed by the jungle.