Area: F:I_UFO
Msg#: 1499 Date: 05-2895 21:47
From: Glenda Stocks Read: Yes Replied: No
To: All Mark: Del
Subj: DNA TEST MAY BE USED IN T
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* Forwarded by Glenda Stocks (1:330/201)
* Area : SNET-L (SNET-L)
* From : SearchNet Mailing List, 1:330/201 (27 May 95 00:44)
* To : ALL
* Subj : DNA Test May Be Used In Tomb (fwd)
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@MSGID: 1:330/201.0 fc7a02fb
From: ur-valhalla!ix.netcom.com!ladynada (Lady Nada)
Subject: DNA Test May Be Used In Tomb (fwd)
Message-ID: <199505270344.UAA08140@ix3.ix.netcom.com>
Date: Fri, 26 May 95 23:44:03 PST
----Forwarded----
Date: Thu, 11 May 95 16:30:40 PDT
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) -- An investigator whose team found
what may be the tomb of an early Mayan ruler said Thursday genetic
testing may be used to help confirm the skeleton's relation to
other royal burials.
The red-stained bones appear to be those of Kinich Ah Pop, the
second ruler of the Copan dynasty. Details of the March 1993
discovery were made public only last weekend by the Honduran
government.
``We knew about this ruler from the Mayan inscriptions and the
texts and we've been digging there for seven years,'' said Robert
J. Sharer, professor of anthropology at the University of
Pennsylvania, interviewed by telephone.
Culture Minister Rodolfo Pastor Fasquelle told reporters in
Honduras on Sunday that the find of the skeleton and of a second
tomb nearby on April 1 constituted ``a discovery of world
importance.''
The bones were found, surrounded by jade offerings, in the
so-called Margarita Tomb in the center of the Copan Archaeological
Park, 180 miles west of Tegucigalpa near the Guatemalan border.
Interviewed from his university office, Sharer said DNA testing
would likely be used in conjunction with other tests to help yield
confirmation about the skeleton's historical importance.
He added that preliminary evidence suggest the bones are those
of the so-called ``Second Ruler,'' or son of Yax Kuk Mo, founder of
the Copan dynasty in 426 A.D.
``The bones found in the tomb have to be analyzed. We have
several early burials from this period and there is a chance now
with DNA testing to see if we can determine whether these people
were related,'' said Sharer.
He said the skeleton was in excellent condition and added that a
second tomb was found in a nearby building in April where research
is ongoing.
Inscriptions appear to date the Margarita tomb to the first part
of the Copan Dynasty, which lasted from about 400 to 800 A.D. Mayan
civilization flourished between 250 A.D. and 900 A.D.
The hieroglyphics read, ``May you be venerated Kinich, lord of
the sun, lord of the lake, lord of Copan.''
Sharer said inscriptions directly associated with such tombs are
rare finds.
``This inscription told us that the Ruler II dedicated his
temple in 437 A.D. Shortly after his death, he was buried in this
tomb,'' said Sharer.
``Often you find tombs, but you don't find the inscription
telling when the building was built or who built it. ... That was
an extraordinary find.''
Sharer's colleague, David W. Sedat, told reporters in Honduras
that the artworks on the temple built over the tomb are among the
most beautiful he has encountered in earlier Mayan civilization.
``It is one of the most important finds of the Mayan
civilization,'' said Sedat, comparing it only to the 1950s
discovery of the sarcophagus of Pacal in Palenque, Mexico, and the
murals of Bonampak, also in Mexico.
Sharer cautioned that careful investigative work must now
confirm the identity of the skeleton.
Kinich Ah Pop's subjects used mercuric sulfide -- a mineral
popularly known as cinnabar -- to stain the bones a brilliant red,
probably to signify blood. The Mayas seem to have used the color to
venerate and show respect for their dignitaries.
The Mayas built cities, created sophisticated calendars,
practiced maritime navigation on a large scale and had one of the
most advanced writing system in the New World.
Members of the team joining Sharer in the discovery were Sedat,
a research specialist at the University of Pennsylvania; and
archaeologists Ricardo Agurcia of Honduras and Carlos Rudy Larios
of Guatemala.
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