Across multiple generations, Rulers 1 to 4 each used a new building for the installation of their stelae, and they appear to have chosen these buildings because they were the funerary pyramids of their immediate predecessors (Houston et al. 1999:13; Houston, Escobedo, Forsyth, et al. 1998:18-19). Yo’nal Ahk III (Ruler 5) followed the same pattern and erected his monuments on Structure O-13, a pyramid growing out of a hill and facing southwest over the East Group Plaza (figs. 2.16, 3.23). Barrientos, Escobedo, Houston, and others hypothesize that Structure O-13 was Itzam K’an Ahk II’s funerary pyramid and that Burial 13, found at the base of Structure O-13, was his tomb (Barrientos, Escobedo, and Houston 1997:8; Escobedo 2004; Houston et al. 1999; Houston, Escobedo, Forsyth, et al. 1998:18-19; see also Wright 1997:214).
Itzam K’an Ahk II’s burial at Structure O-13 would have sacralized it as an especially important location. By locating his monuments on the building, Yo’nal Ahk III displayed a concrete association with his predecessor. Ha’ K’in Xook (Ruler 6) and K’inich Yat Ahk II (Ruler 7) also would choose Structure O-13 for their stelae. This practice strays from the previous pattern of erecting only one ruler’s stelae in front of a pyramid, but these rulers were continuing in the spirit of the tradition, for the three, all born during Itzam K’an Ahk II’s reign, may have been his sons. By installing their monuments on their father’s funerary hill, they established physical connections with him (Houston 2004:275; Houston et al. 2001:70; Houston, Escobedo, Child, et al. 2000:106-107; Houston, Escobedo, and Webster 2008; Martin and Grube 2008:150-51).
By the time of the polity’s fall in the early ninth century, more than fourteen sculptures from three successive rulers had been installed on and in front of Structure O-13. These are Stelae 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, and 21; Panels 1, 2, and 3; and Altar 5 (fig. 3.24). Stelae 12 and 15 were on the pyramid’s upper terrace; Stelae 13 and 14 on the lowest terrace (or in the plaza); Stelae 16, 17, 18, and 19 in front of the building; and Stelae 20 and 21 farther into the plaza to the southwest, less directly associated with the building. Panels 1, 2, and 3 may have been located in or on the superstructure or on masonry altars on the stairway, and Altar 5 was a plain circular table in front of the O-13 stairs and on the pyramid’s central axis (Morley 1937-38, 3:221-81; vol. 5, plate 204b). The arrangement of these three rulers’ monuments on Structure O-13 created opportunities for cross-generational discourse. Furthermore, some of the stelae closely emulated earlier stelae, and the building and its sculptures faced south, toward the South Group and the earliest rulers’ monuments.
Figure 3.24. Plan of Piedras Negras Structure O-13, with monument locations marked. Drawn by author and Kevin Cain, after Sylvanus G. Morley (1937-38, vol. 5, plate 204) and David Stuart and Ian Graham (2003, map). Courtesy of Kevin Cain, INSIGHT.
Ruler 5, Yo’nal Ahk III (758-767 ce)
The paternity of Yo’nal Ahk III (Ruler 5) is not stated in any extant text; he may or may not have been related to his predecessor, Itzam K’an Ahk II, though he connected himself to his immediate and past predecessors in several ways. First, by taking their name as his regnal name, he associated himself with Yo’nal Ahk I and II (Martin and Grube 2008:151). Second, he placed monuments in front of Structure O-13, his immediate predecessor’s funerary pyramid. Third, his inaugural niche stela, Stela 14, closely emulates his predecessors’ inaugural stelae.10
Stela 14 is dated possibly to 9.16.10.0.0, or 13 March 761 ce, the first hotun ending of Yo’nal Ahk III’s reign (Houston, Escobedo, and Webster 2008:97) (plate 3). With the frontally facing Yo’nal Ahk III enthroned in a niche, Stela 14 closely follows the form and composition of Stelae 25, 6, and 11, his predecessors’ niche stelae, from 608, 687, and 731 ce, respectively. Stela 14 imitates Itzam K’an Ahk II’s Stela 11 in content, overall design, and the proportions of the design, with meticulous duplication of details, albeit with some modifications (fig. 3.25). Stela 11, in turn, had emulated Stelae 25 and 6. In addition, Stela 14’s depth of relief is comparable to that of Stela 11, serving to release the ruler’s body from the stone and convey depth and placement in space, with elements in front—such as the sacrificed victims—pro-truding slightly from the rest of the carving. In fact, Stela 14 is almost a recreation of Itzam K’an Ahk II’s Stela 11, except for the addition of Yo’nal Ahk III’s mother standing in front of the scaffold.
Stela 14 faces southwest, toward the dynasty’s early roots, and its emulation of earlier rulers’ stelae links it with those earlier stelae and the ancestors they embodied
(fig. 3.26). Indeed, the continued visual references to the site’s earlier stelae indicates that those older sculptures were used and viewed into the eighth century and were still considered relevant, generations after they were made.
Ruler 6, Ha’ K’in XooK (767-781 ce)
Ha’ K’in Xook (Ruler 6) erected his stelae on Structure O-13 near his immediate predecessor’s stelae and his father’s burial. His Stela 13, placed on one of Structure O-13’s lower terraces or in the plaza just below, was only 2.39 meters tall (Morley 1937-38, 3:16, 237-39). On its front is an image of Ha’ K’in Xook scattering incense or blood for the 9.17.0.0.0 (20 January 771 ce) period ending, the first hotun ending of his reign. He is posed holding a ceremonial bag bearing an ajaw period-ending date. Both text and image retain aspects of the niche stela, but the form is quite different. However, it captures the essence of the period-ending celebration. The scattering scene portrayed on Stela 13 is analogous to those of Stelae 32 and 2; these may record a different part of the period-ending rites.
Ha’ K’in Xook also dedicated Stela 23—now heavily damaged—near or on Structure O-12. In the surviving text, Ha’ K’in Xook names himself as Itzam K’an Ahk Il’s child and recounts a puluuy utz’itil ceremony for his deceased father (Houston, Escobedo, Child, et al. 2000:106-107). Through this memorial burning rite, Ha’ K’in Xook shows an association with Itzam K’an Ahk II. He further connects himself to Itzam K’an Ahk II by erecting this monument near Structure O-12, where Itzam K’an Ahk II had erected Stela 22.
Ha’ K’in Xook ruled only thirteen years and left the throne before what would have been the third period ending of his rule. His successor’s Throne 1 narrates Ha’ K’in Xook’s loss of rulership on 9.17.9.5.11 (24 March 780 ce); it is debated whether this means he died or was forced to abdicate. The 9.17.10.0.0 period ending may have gone un-commemorated, for Yat Ahk II acceded on 9.17.10.9.4, more than a year after Ha’ K’in Xook left the throne (Houston, Escobedo, Child, et al. 2000:107; Houston, Escobedo, and Webster 2008; Stuart 2004a:1). There are no records of anyone ruling in between (Houston, Escobedo, Child, et al. 2000:107).
Ruler 7, K’inich Yat Ahk II (781-808? ce)
The commemoration of time’s passage resumed with Stela 15 and the celebration of the 9.17.15.0.0 period ending (2 November 785 ce) by K’inich Yat Ahk II (plate 9). Stela 15 is innovative, for it is almost a three-dimensional sculpture of K’inich Yat Ahk II. But it is also similar to Ha’ K’in Xook’s Stela 13, for both portray a ruler holding a bag with an ajaw period-ending date, and both were dedicated for the ruler’s first hotun ending while in power, the same occasion as their predecessors’ niche stelae. Through the similarity of its content, Stela 15 makes a visual reference to Stela 13. Its installation on the upper terrace on the northwest side of Structure O-13, above Stela 13, created a physical association as well (fig. 3.24). Both could have been visible at once to someone standing in front of the building, looking up to it, with the sight line activating the space between them in a path traveling up the pyramid. For some, this association might have entailed physical movement during a procession up that stairway.
The last stela K’inich Yat Ahk II dedicated was Stela 12, which was planted on the eastern side of O-13’s upper terrace (Morley 1937-38, 3:262). Dedicated on
Figure 3.25. Piedras Negras Stelae 11 and 14. a. Stela 11, of Itzam K’an Ahk II (Ruler 4), 731 CE, Structure J-3. Drawing by David Stuart and Ian Graham, Corpus of Maya Hieroglyphic Inscriptions, vol. 9, pt. 1, Piedras Negras, reproduced courtesy of the President and Fellows of Harvard College. b. Stela 14, of Yo’nal Ahk III (Ruler 5), ca. 761 ce, Structure O-13. Drawing by John Montgomery © Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, Inc., Www. famsi. org. (Images not to scale. Height of Stela 11 carving: 3.04 m; height of Stela 14 carving: 2.5 m.)
Figure 3.26. Location of Piedras Negras Stelae 11,
6, 14, and 25. Detail, Map of Piedras Negras. Drawing by David Stuart and Ian Graham, after Parris and Proskouriakoff, Corpus of Maya Hieroglyphic Inscriptions, vol. 9, pt. 1, Piedras Negras, reproduced courtesy of the President and Fellows of Harvard College. With modifications by author and Kevin Cain, INSIGHT.
9.18.5.0.0 (11 September 795 ce), Stela 12 commemorates not only a hotun ending but also a victory over the polity at Pomona. As discussed in chapter 2, the image on the stela’s front shows K’inich Yat Ahk II at the apex of the vertical scene and above military lieutenants and captives. The Stela 12 text details a number of warfare events, including a defeat of Piedras Negras by Pomona from 220 years before (in the sixth century) as well as their more recent victory over Pomona. This sixth-century defeat corresponds with a time in which no stelae were erected at Piedras Negras and also may correlate with archaeological evidence for burning and destruction of Early Classic buildings at the site (Garrido 1998, 1999; Houston et al. 2001:76-77; Houston, Escobedo, Child, et al. 2000:101-102). Houston and others have argued that Stela 12’s lengthy narrative and historical retrospection were in the service of vengeance for that long-ago defeat. Stela 12, then, uses the sculptural medium to celebrate and commemorate events of the present as well as to revisit and frame the history of Piedras Negras in relation to other polities.
Carving the image on Stela 12 in shallow relief, the sculptors—one of whom also worked on Stela 15—favored multi-figural pictorial narrative over the divine ruler’s singular embodiment or three-dimensional presence.11 The narrativity of Stela 12’s image is more akin to the site’s panels, the images of which portray multi-figural interactions, often retrospective, with texts that make connections across generations.
K’inich Yat Ahk Il’s Stelae 15 and 12 both were located on the O-13 upper terrace, on either side of the shrine. They offer two images of a proper ruler, one as pious ritual performer, the other as successful war chief accepting and displaying captives. Different but juxtaposed, together their presence is analogous to the serialization of rulers’ images created by K’inich Yat Ahk Il’s ancestors on Structures R-9, R-5, J-4, and J-3, where the various sets of stelae displayed rulers who commemorated multiple period endings and endured through time. But in the juxtaposition of Stelae 15 and 12, sculptors also expanded the possibilities of what stelae could do, both in creating sacred embodiments and conveying narratives.
At the same time, Stela 12 obliquely emulates the niche monuments, particularly with the placement of the seated ruler at the top of the image and other people at lower levels, comparable to Stelae 33 and 14 (fig. 3.27). Stela 12 is a captive presentation scene and thus diverges from the niche stelae, but it makes visual reference to them. Its placement on the northeastern side of the O-13 upper terrace, aligned with Stela 14, Yo’nal Ahk III’s niche monument, may have strengthened this implied analogy, for the stelae could be seen in one vista from the plaza.12 Comparable to this alignment was that of Stelae 13 and 15 on the other side of the pyramid. These pairings of monuments from different generations emphasized links among them.
But like the other Structure O-13 stelae, Stela 12 faced southwest. This was a consequence of being installed on a building where K’inich Yat Ahk II’s predecessors had already established the southwesterly orientation. There may also have been meaning in its southward orientation as a gesture to the site’s earliest stelae. As argued earlier, visual references among stelae—working in tandem with the direction they faced—established connections across stelae from multiple generations, binding them in a long-term tradition of the cyclicality of time, history, and rulership. As sculptures remained on view over time on Structure O-13 and in interaction with their material predecessors and successors, they figuratively and literally created, extended, and renewed relationships between present and past. In fact, what happened
Figure 3.27. Piedras Negras Stelae 25, 33, and 12. a. Stela 25, of K’inich Yo’nal Ahk I (Ruler 1),
Structure R-9. Illustration by Barbara Page from Maya History by Tatiana Proskouriakoff, edited by Rosemary A. Joyce, Copyright © 1993. By permission of the University of Texas Press. b. Stela 33, of Itzam K’an Ahk I (Ruler 2), Structure R-5. Drawing by Mark Van Stone. Courtesy of Mark Van Stone. c. Stela 12, of K’inich Yat Ahk II (Ruler 7), Structure O-13. Drawing by David Stuart, Corpus of Maya Hieroglyphic Inscriptions, vol. 9, pt. 1, Piedras Negras, reproduced courtesy of the President and Fellows of Harvard College. (Images not to scale. Height of Stela 25 carving: 1.9 m; height of Stela 33 carving: 2.15 m; height of Stela 12 carving: 3.02 m.)
On the larger scale of the site becomes physically focused here, for monuments from several reigns are installed in relation to one another and create opportunities for creating cross-generational discourse within a smaller area.
This compression of the physical associations among stelae produced another shift in viewers’ experience of sculptures in groups at Piedras Negras. The first was the direct association between the stelae of K’inich Yo’nal Ahk I and Itzam K’an Ahk I, facing each other across the South Group Court. The second was the relationship between the stelae of K’inich Yo’nal Ahk II and later rulers through processional pathways and the widened display of the stelae of K’inich Yo’nal Ahk II and Itzam K’an Ahk II in two clusters on the Acropolis facade. The third was at Structure O-13 with the juxtaposition of sculptures from multiple reigns on the pyramid. But the other types of associations were still active, for the O-13 stelae were linked to the earlier stelae and their embodied rulers through the processional pathways across the site.
World History
