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A stone panel that is "profoundly historically important," according to the archaeologist who unearthed it, was found during the excavation of a royal ball court in Cancuen, Guatemala, on the site of the most extensive Maya palace ever found. The ornately carved, 100-pound stone panel shows Taj Chan Ank, a powerful eighth-century A.D. king, bedecked in a turtle headdress and a jaguar skin and presiding over a ceremony as he is flanked by two local rulers. The excavation of the ball court has also yielded a court marker, intricately carved with depictions of the king playing ball against a visiting allied ruler.
© 2004 by the Archaeological Institute of America
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