Perhaps a dispute over the succession occupied this protracted interregnum. But it is also conceivable that Tonina kept K'inich K'an Joy Chitam alive (while torturing, or at least displaying him on frequent occasion) in order to destabilize Palenque. There is precedent elsewhere among the Maya for such a course of action.
In any event, on the dates recorded on the stucco panel the recognized ruler of Palenque was dead or in captivity, and his successor had not assumed the throne. Therefore "Shield of the Sun God" was not "head prince", as captioned on the stucco panel. Perhaps his father was recognized as the legitimate heir; or perhaps the succession was in dispute. The fact that the stucco panel identifies "Shield of the Sun God" as "head prince" yet depicts him on a date when he was not in fact "head prince" is not, however, too great a mystery. The royal scribes who created the monument were simply giving him the title he would carry in future, at the time the monument was created. In a similar vein, Bird Jaguar of Yaxchilan was called by the war-title "He of Twenty Captives" in the record of his birth (Simon Martin, personal communication, 2000). |
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