Before the 1500’s the Maya were the leaders of Central America and Mexico building palaces and temples throughout the jungles until the Spanish conquest.
In the city of Chichen Itza Mayan priests offered human sacrifices to the gods for rain and a bountiful crop. The sacrificed children were thrown into “cenotes”, sinkhole caves. The Mayans believed that this source of water was also the entrance into the underworld.
Archaeologist Guillermo de Anda from the University of Yucatan has been able to piece together 127 bodies that were found at the bottom of one of the most sacred caves in Chichten Itza. His findings show that 80 percent of the boys appear to have been young boys between the ages of 3 and 11. The other 20 percent were most adult men.
The sacrifice rituals were rather brutal. Some of the children were skinned or dismembered before the Chaac the rain god received his offering.
It was thought that the gods preferred small things and especially the rain god had four helpers that were represented as tiny people,” said de Anda.
“So the children were offered as a way to directly communicate with Chaac,” he said.
It had previously been believed that these young gifts to the gods had been virgin girls. That belief stemmed from the jade jewelry that had often been found adorning the remains.
It is difficult to determine the sex of human skeletons prior to puberty but de Anda believes from cultural evidence about Mayan mythology that the offerings were indeed young boys.
[...] fictionaddictionblog wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptIt is difficult to determine the sex of human skeletons prior to puberty but de Anda believes from cultural evidence about Mayan mythology that the offerings were indeed young boys. Read the rest of this great post here [...]