Temple 20

Temple 20, also called Temple XX, is a pyramidal building at the Maya city of Palenque in the state of Chiapas in southern Mexico. It dates to between AD 430 and 600, during the Early Classic period, and has a funerary chamber containing the remains of a high ranking character.

Archaeologist Merle Greene Robertson suggested that the vaulted tomb beneath Temple 20 belonged to Queen Ix Yohl Ik'nal. A tomb was discovered inside the pyramid in 1999, but its uncertain structural condition made further entry risky because any attempt could damage the pyramid built above it.

In April 2011, a small camcorder measuring 4 by 6 centimetres (1.6 by 2.4 in) was lowered 5 metres (16 ft) through a hole 15 centimetres (5.9 in) wide in an upper floor. It revealed murals of nine human figures outlined in black against a blood-red background. No sarcophagus was found, and the skeleton probably lies on the floor slabs.

The INAH Council of Archaeology determined that the pyramidal base had to be stabilized before exploration continued. Specialists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) restored Temple 20 in 2010. Across Mesoamerica, Maya communities raised carved stone monuments during the Classic Period, including stelae, often paired with low circular stones called altars whose function remains uncertain.

In 1999 archeologists discovered a tomb inside Temple 20, but any attempt of penetration could lead to damage, due to the uncertain structural state of the pyramid built on top of it.

A small camcorder (4 by 6 centimetres (1.6 by 2.4 in)), lowered to the depth of 5 metres (16 ft) through a 15 centimetres (5.9 in) wide hole in an upper floor of the pyramid in April 2011, revealed murals of nine human figures outlined in black against the blood-red background. There was no sarcophagus, it is probable that the skeleton lies on the slabs of the floor.

The INAH Council of Archaeology determined that the pyramidal base must be stabilized before exploration.