·     Features:

o A human skull.

o A strip of cloth (or cord/rope) goes “vertically” through the eye (from above) and is tied into a knot above the head.

o This glyph occurs with or without the characteristics of a jaguar:

§ Without the characteristics of a jaguar: in the idealized form given by TOK.p33.r5.c3.

§ With the characteristics of a jaguar (jaguar spots and/or a single sharp tooth): this is found in the monumental inscriptions, in the names of rulers.

It’s possible that these are two distinct glyphs (with and without the jaguar features), but for the moment, I will go with the working assumption that the first is a unique glyph and the second is the first with BAHLAM (or some other jaguar glyph) conflated with it (rather than being a distinct glyph in its own right). This view is supported by some remarks made by Tokovinine in one of his Harvard lectures (see below).

·     Do not confuse this is the visually (slightly) similar u’b? / uub? = “listen” / “listener” – in this glyph the knot is vertical, while in  u’b? / uub? the knot is horizontal.

·     M&G uses the nickname “Knot-Eye Jaguar” and Tokovinine uses the nickname “Trophy-Head Jaguar” for the ruler’s name / glyph with jaguar characteristics. While “Knot-Eye Jaguar” is well established, I prefer “Trophy-Head Jaguar”. This is because the word “trophy-head” can stand alone and independent. With the working assumption that this is the name “<something> Jaguar” written as a conflation of an independent logogram <something> with a jaguar logogram, “TROPHY-HEAD” seems a better nickname for this logogram, as it has an independent existence, separate from its being in combination with “Jaguar”, in a way that “Knot-Eye” doesn’t have.

·     Occurrences (YAX and BPK/LAC/Xukalnaah/Ak’e):

o YAX:

§ M&G.p120.#1 and M&G.p120.#3: two early rulers of YAX – “Knot-Eye Jaguar” I and “Knot-Eye Jaguar” II. For reasons given elsewhere, I prefer the names “Trophy-Head Jaguar” I and II.

§ HS3 Step 1 B4: Kokaaj Bahlam III first describes “Trophy-Head Jaguar” II’s taking of a captive in the past, and then draws a parallel to his own military prowess in his own taking of captives.

§ YAX Lintel 46:  Kokaaj Bahlam III first describes his own taking of a captive, and then draws a parallel of his own military prowess to that of “Trophy-Head Jaguar” II’s taking of a captive in the past.

§ In AT-YT2021-lecture22.t0:37:35-41:57 (specifically at 38:19-38:40): Unfortunately, we still don’t know how to read the name of that Yaxchilan king. We call him “Trophy-Head Jaguar” because the name of the king consists of the logogram for “jaguar” and a logogram that looks like a skull suspended on a knot. Here they are conflated, so that suspended skull looks like a trophy-head. So we call him “Trophy-Head [Jaguar]”, but we actually don’t know what the logogram signifies.

o BPK/LAC/Xukalnaah/Ak’e:

§ LAC Panel 1 – a ruler of Ak’e and Xukalnaah, under whom Aj Sak Teles served as Ch’ahoom and Anaab.

§ BPK Lintel 3 – the ruler of an unnamed polity, whose Yajawte’ – Ch’a-* – was captured by Aj Sak Teles. It’s unclear to me who the ruler of Ak’e and Xukalnaah is at this point in time; either:

·       It’s still “Trophy-Head Jaguar”, and Aj Sak Teles is still serving him as a vassal. In this scenario, the captured Yajawte’ Ch’a-* has rebelled against “Trophy-Head Jaguar”, and Aj Sak Teles is just loyally defending his overlord, in defeating and capturing the rebel.

·       Aj Sak Teles is now ruler of Ak’e and Xukalnaah (in reality, or in the re-written history of his son). In this scenario, Aj Sak Teles has already rebelled against “Trophy-Head Jaguar”, and Yajawte’ Ch’a-* was captured fighting Aj Sak Teles in a rear-guard action, where Yajawte’ Ch’a-* had remained loyal to his already defeated overlord “Trophy-Head Jaguar”.