The Women's History Newsletter logo

The Women's History Newsletter

Subscribe
Archives
May 20, 2021

The Tomb of the Red Queen

I was reading yesterday about the Tomb of the Red Queen in Mexico's Palenque National Park (formerly the ancient city of Palenque). This is a tomb discovered in 1994 with decorated remains that might be Lady Ix Tz'akbu Ajaw (amazing name) or Hun K'Anleum (ditto) or someone else. What I was delighted to discover is that the tomb was found by Mexican archaeologist Fanny López Jiménez! She was 24 at the time, which, I cannot imagine making a discovery that amazing at that age.

How did she find it? She was doing "routine stabilization work" on a temple in Palenque and she found a small crack on the stairs. That's it!! She noticed a teeny thing and then something else amazing from humanity's (particularly Mexico's) past was revealed! Go Fanny López Jiménez!

LINKS:

  • The Wiki entry for the Tomb of the Red Queen
  • The Wiki entry for Fanny López Jiménez
  • National Geographic Piece on Palenque
Don't miss what's next. Subscribe to The Women's History Newsletter:
This email brought to you by Buttondown, the easiest way to start and grow your newsletter.