We will probably never have an explanation for the Palenque interregnum, so the best we can do is assign degrees of probability to the alternatives. That Tonina somehow controlled Palenque so thoroughly as to forbid the naming of a successor to K'inich K'an Joy Chitam II is least likely. Such total domination would have entailed a strong presence in Palenque itself and the defacing of the Temple of the Inscriptions and Group of the Cross monuments.
The Tonina monument depicting K'inich K'an Joy Chitam as a prisoner does record that he was captured in an attack by Tonina on Palenque itself. Conceivably it was the threat of another such crushing raid that required K'inich Ahkal Mo' Nahb' III to re-establish a network of alliances and dependencies, such as Palenque had formerly enjoyed, before taking the crown. |
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