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Patterns of interaction between Palenque and neighbouring polities become clear with the beginning of the Late Classic Period. The first epigraphic evidence of a military conflict between Palenque and other kingdoms falls within the reign of Lady Ol Nal, the first female successor in any Maya Lowland royal dynasty. During her reign, Palenque became a target of a number of attacks from all other polities in its neighborhood, except for Tonina, which at that time still was a relatively small kingdom. We do not know whether the fact of a female succession, which probably was not regarded as correct political behavior, provoked these militaristic activities, or if the female succession was the product of the elimination of all male heirs to the throne in previous, perhaps unrecorded battles.
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