After such an identification has been made, the second stage calls for establishing a statistically significant sample that could help to determine in what contexts, how and by whom a specific gesture is adopted. This serves to confirm consistency in gesture use and, through it, the intention of conveying a specific meaning. I will now very briefly show some examples of the use of three separate gestures. This will lay the background needed for looking at the gestures adopted by some of the characters that appear on the Palenque Temple XIX bench.

Illustration courtesy of Justin Kerr's Mayavase Database.