Archaeologists at the Mayan ruin site of Palenque said Monday they have discovered an underground water tunnel built under the Temple of Inscriptions, which houses the tomb of an ancient ruler named Pakal.
Archaeologist Arnoldo Gonzalez says researchers believe the tomb and pyramid were purposely built atop a spring between 683 and 702 AD. The tunnels led water from under the funeral chamber out into the broad esplanade in front of the temple, thus giving Pakal’s spirit a path to the underworld.
Attention has focused on the heavily carved stone sarcophagus in which Pakal was buried, and which some erroneously believe depict the Maya ruler seated at the controls of a spaceship.
But Gonzalez said Monday that carvings on a pair of stone ear plugs found in the grave say a god “will guide the dead toward the underworld, by submerging (them) into the water so they will be received there.â€
Pakal, in other words, didn’t fly off into space; he went down the drain. “There is nothing to do with spaceships,†Gonzalez said.
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