PHILADELPHIA There new evidence that the story of the legendary founder of the Mayan city of Copan is more than myth.

Archaeologists, led by Robert Sharer of the University of Pennsylvania, believe theye discovered his tomb. The findings link the legend of Yax Kk Mo to the bones found deep inside the Acropolis. The discovery will be featured in "Lost King of the Maya," airing Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2001, at 9 p.m. on PBS. The show takes viewers back nearly 2,000 years and 130 feet underground to the site of the newly uncovered tomb. Copan was a thriving center of art, architecture and science that was governed by hallucinogenic religious practices, ritual warfare and human sacrifice.

The discovery of the tomb is the result of 10 years of excavating and tunneling in Copan. Sharer, along with three Harvard University professors, is working to uncover, restore and decipher Copan ancient temples and 90-foot Hieroglyphic Stairway. Sharer unearthed the tomb by following lines left from plaster floors buried long ago.

"When we found this stucco panel in our tunneling in the Acropolis, we knew we had found the first explicit evidence that this area was associated with Yax Ku Mo" Sharer said. The bones in the tomb reveal that he was more than 50 years old when he died.

Sharer says the man buried in the tomb had suffered a series of injuries during his life, including some injuries he likely suffered in combat.

"Perhaps the most dramatic, a severe blow to the right forearm -- the kind of fracture one gets in warding off a blow with the forearm. In this case, probably with a shield on the forearm," Sharer said.

Yax Ku Mo was depicted in images wearing a shield on his right arm because he was left handed. "This is one more case where the myth of Copan dynastic founder is becoming real through archaeological evidence," Sharer said.