Tomb of the Red Queen

The tomb was discovered in 1994 by the Mexican archeologist Fanny Lopez Jimenez[1] after being commissioned to perform routine stabilization work on a set of temple stairs by the local Archaeologist Arnoldo González Cruz [es].

It takes its popular name from the fact that the remains of the noblewoman and the objects in the sarcophagus were covered with bright red cinnabar powder when the tomb was discovered.

In 1948, archeologist Alberto Ruz Lhuillier discovered the hidden entrance to the Pyramid of the Inscriptions, and four years later he opened the tomb of Pakal, with its treasures, but Temple XIII remained unexplored for decades.

The next day the archaeology team working for the National Institute of Anthropology and History of Mexico, began to explore what López Jiménez had uncovered.

The team removed the masonry and found a narrow corridor six meters long, blocked by debris, leading into the pyramid.

There were three chambers on the south side of the corridor; two were open and empty, with signs of rituals performed in front, but the third was blocked by a stone wall covered with stucco, and traces of pigment.

Her skeleton was covered and surrounded by a large collection of jade and pearl objects, bone needles and shells, which were originally pieces of necklaces, earspools and wristlets.

The skeleton, the collection of objects and the inside of the sarcophagus were entirely covered with a bright red dust made of cinnabar, or the ground ore of mercury.

[5] The remains of the "Red Queen" and the objects in the tomb were taken to the laboratory of Mexican National Institute of Archeology and History for further study.

The scientists conducted carbon-14 tests and facial reconstructions studies, and successfully extracted a sample of DNA from the collagen in her vertebrae.

They established that she consumed a large amount of meat in her diet, and had remarkably healthy teeth considering her age and the time in which she lived.

Arnoldo Gonzalez Cruz and his team hope to find the tombs of the sons of Pakal in the yet-unexplored other temples of Palenque, which, if their DNA is intact, could confirm her identity.