Stela D and its associated altar (in the foreground). Though the imagery on the stela appears to be heavy on the bloodletting theme, the text, albeit one of the most beautiful examples of calligraphic art at the site, speaks of little else but the erection of the stela itself. The altar's visible side in this view represents a skeletal jaguar head of unknown associations. The other side represents a personified mountain (also known as a witz monster). Either this bicephalic monument represents some kind of duality as has been suggested or else it may be a toponym (i.e., the Skeletal Jaguar Mountain) stating where the king's actions pertaining to the stela's erection took place. |