The authors describe the excavation and interpretation of an intact seventh-century high status burial at the Maya site of Nakum. The dead person wore an incised pectoral with an eventful biography, having started out as an Olmec heirloom 1000 years before. No less impressive was the series of votive rituals found to have been enacted at the tomb for another 100 years or more. The beautiful objects, their architectural setting and the long story they recount, offer a heart-breaking indictment of the multiple losses due to looting.

Structure 99, located on top of a large platform occupies a major and prominent part of the North Group complex of the Maya site of Nakum situated in the north-eastern area of Guatemala. Archaeological excavations realized in this structure during a few field seasons have revealed interesting data about the very last moment of Nakum's development during the Terminal Classic period (AD 800-900/950). It also revealed important traces of architectural and ritual activities from the still enigmatic Protoclassic phase (ca. 100 BC-AD 300). Scattered ceramics, stone tools and human bones found on top of Structure 99 -associated with the final hours of its occupation as well as Protoclassic offerings discovered in the lowest layers of this construction, including intriguing clay heads and jade pendants-are evidence of important ceremonial activities and beliefs that everything in the world is alive. By caching or destroying artifacts within the building, it is symbolically animated or killed by the Maya. This paper presents the results of the most important research conducted in Structure 99 that contributes to our knowledge on the ritual and architectural activities of two crucial periods in the history of Nakum: the Protoclassic and Terminal Classic. Among numerous findings described in this article, there is one that merits special attention. It is a cylindrical ceramic artifact lately identified as a beehive, providing a new perspective on beekeeping by the ancient Maya. The artifact is dated to the Protoclassic phase and is one of the oldest beehives discovered in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica.Keywords: Maya culture, Terminal Classic, Protoclassic, termination rituals, beekeeping, beehive.resumen: El Edificio 99, ubicado en la cima de una gran plataforma ocupó un lugar prominente en el complejo denominado el Grupo Norte del sitio maya de Nakum, en el noreste de Guatemala. Durante los recientes trabajos de campo que se llevaron a cabo en esta parte del sitio, se han revelado algunos datos interesantes sobre el último momento del florecimiento de Nakum durante el Clásico Terminal (800-86 estudios de cultura maya xliv 900/950 d.C.). Además se hallaron vestigios importantes de la actividad constructiva y ritual perteneciente a la enigmática fase Protoclásica (ca. 100 a.C.-300 d.C.). Tanto la cerámica dispersa, las herramientas de piedra y los huesos humanos encontrados en la cima del Edificio 99 con fecha del Clásico Terminal, así como las ofrendas colocadas debajo de esta construcción, que incluyen intrigantes cabezas de barro y colgantes de jade, son evidencia de actividades ceremoniales muy importantes y creencias religiosas según las cuales cada cosa del mundo está viva. Al esconder o destruir diversos artefactos en el edificio, los mayas animan o matan simbólica-mente esta construcción. Entre los numerosos hallazgos efectuados en el área del Edificio 99, hay uno que merece una atención especial. Es un artefacto cilíndrico de cerámica, identificado en última instancia como una colmena, que proporciona una nue...

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