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  • The Panel 1 of Cancuén Now Features an Interactive Video

Guatemala. Panel 1 of Cancuén, under the stewardship of Fundación La Ruta Maya (Cultural Heritage Registry No. 16.2.5.244), now features an interactive video that allows viewers to explore, in real time and in two languages (Spanish and English), a dynastic history spanning from A.D. 652 to 799.

Through a color-coded system, users can easily identify the different components of the hieroglyphic text:

  • Blue: place names
  • Red: personal names
  • Yellow: actions
  • Green: dates
  • White: names of deities

The video is available here: https://youtu.be/NMJV735KeuY?si=gqac6YPhxiIVkpxi

The inscription, composed of 160 hieroglyphic blocks carved in high relief and arranged in eight double columns, corresponds to the second part of a longer text that originally continued on another panel, now lost.

The first recorded event on the monument took place in A.D. 652, “in the company of Yukno’om Che’en of Calakmul.” The text also documents the enthronement of Cancuén ruler K’ib Ahaw in A.D. 656, explicitly noting that he received his royal insignia from Yukno’om Che’en.

The final passages of the panel record another accession in Cancuén under the influence of this powerful ruler of Calakmul and conclude with the creation of the monument in A.D. 799, likely to mark the tomb of the second Cancuén ruler associated with this dynastic line.

The interactive video was developed by graduates and advanced students from the Archaeology program at Universidad del Valle de Guatemala. Its creation involved 3D scanning of the monument, decipherment and transcription of the hieroglyphic text, digital rendering of the glyphs, as well as their colorization and animation.

The donation of this educational resource to Fundación La Ruta Maya strengthens our commitment to making cultural heritage accessible to all.

For more information, this panel can be explored in our online catalog


Credits

  • Production: Diego Miguel López García (Chaac 3D)
  • Narration: José Manuel Mendoza
  • Transcription: Diego A. Ortez, Valery Espinoza, and José Manuel Mendoza
  • Monument scanning: Diego Miguel López García and Diego A. Ortez