Er... Good evening:-)

[Mary Xochitl Mayahuel]

In my first post on this website, I'd like to find out your opinion about the famous sarcophagus of Kinich Hanaab Pakal. Do you trust the traditional explanation? Do you believe in extraterrestrial origin of its creator (of course, it wasn't Kinich Hanaab Pakal who made it, but he probably was the inspirator of that hard work)? Or maybe you have your own version?
P.S.: I am Ukrainian and still at school, so my English is really poor! Because of that I will be very pleased, if, in a case of a mistake, someone puts me right.

[Dr. Tim]

Interesting dialog, and a good observation. Yes, the meaning can be hidden behind the art. Since art (even ancient art) is an interpretive medium, the meanings can be lost in time. Any exploration is frequently speculation - informed speculation - but speculation just the same.

As to the teeth, it is the exceptions that make the rule. Pakal might have been many things before becoming ruler. We don't know how far down the military the practice of teeth shaping might have extended. Many possibilities. One may simply have been he just didn't have it done - why is ultimately pure speculation, and any informed guess is as good as another. However, my expertise is more focused on the lower intermediate region (Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama) and the Andean states. So I am not the best to speculate on this.

[Mary Xochitl Mayahuel]

Speaking of the subjective view that most of us, the modern people, have over this certain stone carving, you repeat the words which official science uses to explain its meaning. Personally I would compare that picture with examples of Arabian calligraphic writing: on the one hand, it's an inscription, but on the other hand, it's a nice picture (an image of a certain thing or a fine ornament). Maybe, the true meaning of the carving we speak of was just hidden by numerous details which carried an important philosophical meaning for ancient Mayas.
I also would like to attract your attention to another mystery of Kinich Hanaab Pakal (there might be nothing mysterious about this detail, but who knows?). As archaeologists noticed, Pakal's teeth were NOT cut according to Mayan fashion! As we know, it was common among their noblemen to make the teeth triangular and then fill the gaps with jade. That was one of the ways to show one's wealth. Of course, Pakal needed to look "cool", as he was a ruler of quite a mighty city. So why did he refuse to go through that treatment?

[Dr. Tim]

The mistake most people make, when the look at another culture, is to see it with their eyes. What I mean is they see it with their culture's eyes. Meaning they interpret what they see using their understanding, which is not OBJECTIVE, but rather SUBJECTIVE. The same is true of technology - they look with modern eyes.

In the case of the lid design, it does not have to be technology at all. It could be a symbolic representation. So it is important to look at the total range of possibilities, and only chose those that are both possible, logical, and simple. The simplest solution is usually correct.

Having said that, I also recognize the possibility of anomalies, oblique interpretations. But the worst thing you can do is make a snap decision without evidence. And truthfully, there is no evidence to support your views. Simply a design being incorrectly interpreted is not evidence. There are dozens of other logical explanations, all possible and logical and simple.

But if you come up with some evidence to support the notion that it represents transport, you will become famous!

[Mary Xochitl Mayahuel]

Honestly speaking, I also doubt about that. But how did Kinich Hanaab Pakal (or anyone else in Palenque) know of such technology? Even if it's not a spaceship, it is some kind of transport that was unknown at that time!

[Dr. Tim]

There is no proof of any extraterrestrials ever visiting our planet. Nor is there any evidence of their involvement in Ancient America.