Maya King Pacal on the Lid of the Sacophagus of Palenque Sculpture Relief - Reproduction after the original from the Temple of Inscriptions, Palenque, Mexico. 692 A.D. In the city of Palenque, in a temple on top of a pyramid, the archaeologist Albert Lluillier found in 1952 the access to a funerary cript that houses the sarcophagus of the King Pacal Votan the Great (615-683 A.D.). The Soviet scientist Alexander Kazantev came out with the theory that the relief on the lid of the sarcophagus represents an astronaut and his spaceship but according to the Mayan legend, the symbolism of the lid shows King Pacal falling into the jaws of the Earth monster each night to rise again with the power of the sun each morning. Its teeth are enlarged to demonstrate its encompassing power.At the top is the mythological "Moun" bird. The pillar-like construction above Pacal's head is the tree of life. The original lid in Mexico is twelve feet long.

Made of cast stone. Cast stone is a type of gypsum cement whose properties are much different from plaster of paris which is what most sculpture shops use. Unlike plaster, which is soft, light and weak, cast stone is hard, heavy and strong. Cast stone feels like, and is heavy like a real stone would be, which can be experienced as soon you try to lift it.

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