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Above on the left we see a "wavy bone" allograph of the Palenque emblem glyph. (Allographs are hieoglyphic signs with a different appearance but the same meaning, that substitute freely for one another. The wa suffix underneath the bone sign complements the AJAW superfix.) Next over to the right is an animal-skull allograph of the emblem glyph. (Here the la complement, the little "blobs" at the bottom which quite frequently appear with the Palenque emblem glyph, suggests that the ancient name of the kingdom might well have been B'aakal, perhaps with a meaning of "Boney", rather than B'aak, "Bone".) At one time it was thought that the "bird" emblem glyphs at the right were also allographs, so that all the emblem glyphs illustrated above had the same reading. But then it was realized that the bird substitutes in other contexts with phonetic ma-ta, mat, and it is quite possible that this stands for the important mythological location, Matwil. Thus the bird emblem glyph would read "Divine Matwil Lord".
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