They give their names in two L-shaped bands. All kinds of underlying subtleties can be imagined, lost because the stela was ripped out of its context. In calculated contrast to the artists' signatures carved in sunken relief, the queen's name appears in low relief on a block that juts forward. She is called Ok-Ain, ''Alligator Foot,'' and came from Yomop, a city that has yet to be located, adding one more unanswered question. Not all discoveries yield enchanting results.
Great cruelty is revealed by some inscriptions.
Mayan cities were engaged in internecine warfare. One mural painting shows the ruler of Bonampak amid court attendants in grand attire while soldiers stand further down. In between, prisoners are subjected to torture and lest the viewer miss the point, the inscription identifies the characters and obliges with a commentary. In the midst of their unamusing daily lives, the Mayas seem to have retained a kind of ferocious humor. On a late Classic vase, probably of the eighth century, a painted frieze shows scribes banqueting.