The head modeled in stucco represents the Mayan ruler K’inich Janaab ‘Pakal, and it was found in the Great Mayan City of Palenque, in a substructure of the building called Casa C.

The researchers informed that the discovery was made during the conservation work aimed at fixing the accumulation of water in the east courtyard of the so-called House E.

The stucco head of Pakal

This stuccoed head, of naturalistic size and style, is known to have formed part of some architectural decoration, although its origin is unknown.

In Palenque, many of the features we see in mural paintings or stone carvings are faithful reflections of specific characters. Knowing this, the mask of Pakal “the Great” is very likely that is a real representation.

Other findings

In the same building where the stucco mask was found, hundreds of other pieces were found, classified and taken to the laboratory of the archaeological site.

These other findings included ceramic figurines, carved bones, two pearls, fragments of jadeite, flint, nacre shell, obsidian, a piece of pyrite polished mirror, as well as numerous bones of turtles, bass, mojarras, lizards, small birds, and snails.