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| A hubuy event against the toponym of Palenque. Bonampak Lintel 4 (unpublished drawing by Ian Graham). |
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Only a few years later, but still in the lifetime of Lady Ol-Nal, Palenque is the target of another war. This time Chan Muwan of Bonampak is credited for the "downing of the flint shield" of Lakam Ha, the name of the center of Palenque (Stuart and Houston 1990) (figure 3).
Bonampak by that time is one of the largest and most powerful polities in the Usumacinta area. Unfortunately, the epigraphic record does not clearly indicate with which "superpower" Bonampak was associated. The scene on Piedras Negras Lintel 2 shows lords from Bonampak paying respect to Piedras Negras Ruler 2 at 9.11.5.0.0. I suppose that Bonampak, like neighboring Yaxchilan at about the same time (Miller 1991), was controlled by Piedras Negras, which in turn was firmly associated with Calakmul (see below). Mentioned already on the Early Classic lintels from Yaxchilan, the activities of the royal dynasty of Bonampak are continuously documented until at least 9.9.1.4.12. There is no evidence that Bonampak was actively engaged in wars in the Early Classic. The "downing of the flint shield of lakamha" took place at 9.8.9.15.11. The agent of this war event is named on Bonampak Lintel 4 as Chaan Muwan. The hubuy war event did not contribute greatly to the political growth of Bonampak. There is no evidence that Bonampak ever controlled the Palenque polity and took major profit of this raid. The raid of Bonampak against Palenque, as well as the following attacks, were probably opportunistic. When these "opportunistic wars" occurred, Palenque was already weakened through attacks by Pomona and problems in its dynastic succession. Obviously, smaller and less powerful polities looked for success in warfare by attacking weak enemies. Therefore, all over the lowlands we find "war clusters," series of small wars and small attacks clustering in a short period of time, by various polities, but always against the same enemy. |
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