Tikal Burial 196 Tomb of the Jade Jaguar - Maya Archaeology

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in the vicinity of the pelvis for stingray spines. Surely
enough, they were soon found; lying on the pelvis with a tubular
jade bead between them. The spines were covered with
hide, rot, and cinnabar with the cinnabar very thick both
above and below. Beneath the cinnabar under the spines was
several millimeters of dark brown rot over the floor. There
was a possibility that there had been a covering over the
spine below the cinnabar but preservation was not good enough
to determine this point for sure. Both spines lay with their
incised glyphs up. Stingray spines are a frequent occurrence
in the pelvic region at Uaxactun (Smith, 1950, Table 6).
The Glyphs
Each spine had glyphs incised on the upper portion. The
3 Ahau spine was missing its top portion and there were probably
more glyphs on the missing section. There was no trace
of the missing part in the tomb. The glyphs are very hard to
decipher because of the nature of the surface of the stingray
spines, which is marred by lines running lengthwise, due perhaps
to aging.
Jaguar Paw Bones 117A-88
About 72 paw bones of a feline were found in approxi-
mate groups of five in 16 locations (thus making four or more
hides). The bones were not always well preserved and as they
were the last objects to be removed from the tomb they had