Burials can reveal many aspects of a culture: religion, trade, society,
public health, etc. From a religious perspective, burials mostly
reveal the ancient Mayas' beliefs about the afterlife.
Maya burials occurred in several forms. Commoners
were buried beneath their houses (Coe, 147) while members of the elite
found their final resting places in tombs, or in some areas were cremated.
Classic tombs of the elite were filled
with vessels containing food and water for the afterlife and fine objects
of flint and jade. One to three children or adolescents were even
sacrificed and buried near the honored elite (Coe, 52,69-70,92).
Cosmology and Pacal's Tomb
Pacal's
Tomb is probably the greatest funerary monument known from the Classic
Period. It is located deep beneath the Temple of Inscriptions at
Palenque. Pacal's sarcophagus is carved with a scene showing the
moment of his death as he falls into the Underworld. The great ruler
is shown falling into the jaws of two great dragon skulls which represent
the Underworld. Ten ancestor portraits are shown rising, with a northward
pointing tree, from a maw in the earth. Significantly, at the time
of the winter solstice when the sun reaches its southernmost point, the
sun sets directly along the central line of the tomb. As the sun
sets, Pacal's sarcophagus image falls southward into Xibalba.
After Pacal's defeat of the Underworld, he will rise to the North, the
direction of his corpse's head, the images of his dead ancestors, and the
tree (Schele, 268).
Similarly, in elite burials at Tikal and Palenque, the head of the corpse
was always placed to the North. Archaeologists conclude that the
Maya saw the North sky as a logical place for the dead, being the pivot
of the sky and constellation movements (Schele, 267).
Replica funerary urns from the Late Classic
Period