Digital heritage archive
Stela 6 of Aguateca
Mesoamerican
Balanced lighting
Heritage description
About the object
Stela 6 of Aguateca depicts Ruler 5, Tahnteˀ K’inich—the last king of the city—who bears the title Sacred Lord of Mutuˀl, the emblem glyph used by the lords of Dos Pilas in the Petexbatún region, as well as by the rulers of Tikal. The iconography portrays him as a warrior carrying a shield and a spear, accompanied by two captives of unknown origin with their hands bound. On the stela, Tahnteˀ K’inich stands upon a cleft and animate mountain adorned with flowers—an allusion to the concept of the Flower Mountain—which has been identified with the Aguateca place name K’inich Paˀ Witz, “sunny cleft hill,” probably referring to the Aguateca escarpment. According to the inscription on the stela, the birth of Ruler 5 is recorded in blocks A1-B6, with an eroded Initial Series date of 9.15.16.12.1 12 ˀImix 14 Kumk’u (January 22, AD 748). This ruler was enthroned at the age of 22, apparently on 9.16.19.0.14 5 ˀIx 12 Pop (February 8, AD 770). The latest date on the stela, (9.)17.0.0.0 13 ˀAjaw 18 Kumk’u (January 20, AD 771), is associated with the dedication of the monument and the celebration of a period ending performed by Tahnteˀ K’inich.
Museum record
Technical record
Descriptive and technical information associated with the digital record of the heritage object.
- Collection
- Mesoamerican
- Culture
- Maya
- Period
- Late Classic (AD 600–900)
- Material
- Limestone
- Collector
- Sergio Larrain García-Moreno
- Region
- Petexbatún, Guatemala
- Provenance / Site
- Aguateca
- Morphology / Category
- Stela with iconography and glyphs
- Technique / Manufacture
- Bas-relief
- Function
- Historical record, instrument of political propaganda, and sacred object
- Archaeological context
- Structure L8-6 of the Main Plaza of Aguateca
- Conservation
- Fair. The main and largest section is housed at the Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino and has been extensively restored; several of its glyphs have also been lost. Three of the other five upper fragments of the same stela recorded by Graham (1967) are currently held at the Sylvanus G. Morley Museum of Ceramics in Tikal National Park, in their country of origin, while the remaining two fragments are still missing.
- Condition
- Incomplete object
- Institution
- Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino
- Inventory
- 950
- Digitization
- Artec 3-D
Dimensional record
Dimensions
Height
2.430 mm
Width
1.430mm
References
Bibliography
- Beliaev, Dimitri, Mónica de León, Alexandre Tokovinine, Ssergei Vepretskii, Camilo Lun, Pedro Aragón, Philipp Galeev & Aadelso Canan (2015) “Proyecto atlas epigráfico de Petén, fase 1: resultados de la temporada 2013”. En Actas del XXVIII Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala, editado por Barbara Arroyo, Luis Méndez & Lorena Paiz, tomo II, pp. 675-686. Instituto de Antropología e Historia, Asociación Tikal, Ciudad de Guatemala.
- Graham, Ian (1967) Archaeological Explorations in El Peten, Guatemala. Middle American Research Institute of Tulane University, New Orleans.
- Houston, Stephen (1993) Hieroglyphs and History at Dos Pilas: Dynastic Politics of the Classic Maya. University of Texas Press, Austin.
- Ishihara, Reiko & Jenny Guerra (2006) “Exploraciones en la grieta principal de Aguateca, Petén”. En XIX Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala, editado por Juan Pedro Laporte, Bárbara Arroyo & Héctor Mejía, pp. 814-825. Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología, Ciudad de Guatemala.
- López Oliva, Macarena y Benjamín Ballester (en prensa) “Fragmentos para una biografía de la Estela 6 de Aguateca: desde Guatemala hasta el Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino”. Ancient Mesoamerica.
- Luján, Luis (1969) “Algunos problemas sobre la protección de los bienes culturales en Guatemala”. Antropología e Historia 21(1/2):3-21.
- Martin, Simon & Nikolai Grube (2008) Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens. Thames & Hudson, Londres.
- Palomo, Juan (2007) Muerte, cerro y cueva: la bioarqueología en las grietas de Aguateca. Tesis para optar al grado de Licenciado en Arqueología. Escuela de Historia, Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala. Ciudad de Guatemala.
- Ponciano, Erick, Daniela Triadan & Takeshi Inomata (2005) Informe del Proyecto Arqueológico Aguateca. La temporada de campo 2005. Instituto de Historia y Antropología de Guatemala, Ciudad de Guatemala.
- Ponciano, Erick M. y Alba Estela Pinto (2007) Rito de terminación en la plaza principal de Aguateca: Epílogo de su ocupación durante el siglo IX. En XX Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala, 2006 (editado por J.P. Laporte, B. Arroyo y H. Mejía), pp. 720-736. Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología, Guatemala. (Versión digital).
- Stuart, David y Stephen Houston (1994) Classic Maya Place Names. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington DC.
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