Maya’s former funeral study calls into question the theory of human sacrifices, indicates acts of creation of places

A recent study by Dr Angelina Locker published in the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology Bioarchaeological methods implemented to determine whether the secondary burial remains found in a late pre -elite preclassical (300 ECB – 250 CE) could be linked to ancestors, the creation of places and movement beliefs.

As a rule, the secondary burials of skulls, arms bones and teeth are seen through a lens of violence and sacrifice in ancient Meso-American societies in which such practices were widespread. However, from ethnohistoric and historical accounts, we also know that pre -Columbian societies had complex beliefs on the soul, ancestors and life after death.

In the Maya belief system, in particular, the soul could be divided into four distinct parts. “Baah”, which means the self-represented by the head, and represents its vital force. “Ik ‘” represented the breath of the soul and was associated with the wind, the jade and the teeth. “Ch’ulel” was the essence that lived in the heart and blood, and finally, “Wahy” was companion spirits, generally animals, who died after their human counterpart is deceased.

Since the soul of an ancestor did not require that his whole body be present, parts of it could be used to communicate with their descendants, such as skull, mandible, teeth or arm.

However, generally when these remains are found secondary to a primary burial, they were interpreted as proof of ritual violence, offers and sacrifices, either for the deceased primary, the gods or the buildings.

However, Dr. Locker’s study contributes to discussions by contesting all the results of violence or sacrifice.

“There is a lot of variability in the Mayan era. There are many examples of dental caches (many teeth, often a collection of premolars), additional mandibles or skulls included in tombs. Individuals missing their skulls, burials with long bones (such as legs or arms bones), or just finger bones.

“Many bioarcheologists have challenged the use of sacrifice as a tote to explain the placement of secondary burials. This article contributes to this discussion and focuses on the placement of mandibles and teeth.”

To do this, Dr. Locker examined the burial without a recovered elite on the outskirts of the Hombles back site, Belize. The site was once a large urban center with a population of 10,000 to 15,000 inhabitants.

The archaeological excavations, however, revealed only 21 burials, belonging to a total of 35 individuals. Among these, 17 were recovered outside the basic colony, including a burial containing three people who are part of the dancer group. The group of dancers was a common rural household approximately 1,55 km west from the Hombres back.

“There were three grouped burials within the group of dancers – the episodes of Blurial 1, 2 and 3. My article focused on the episode of burial 2. The episodes 1 and 3 were not included, unfortunately, because I had no access.

Initially, this tomb had been interpreted as a primary burial containing the sacrificial remains of other individuals.

However, Dr. Locker offers an alternative explanation based on organicological results and the context of burial.

The primary remains belonged to a young woman, buried with a serious marker and the remains of molds of mussels. Two additional people were placed in his grave, represented by teeth; It was a person aged 20 to 34 and a person aged 30 to 40.

Isotopic analyzes of strontium and oxygen revealed that if the young woman had grown up on Homres, the other two people were non -local.

The peripheral location and the non -elite status of the primary burial undermines the traditional interpretations of the sacrifices. Sacrificial offers were generally associated with elite burials, the main ceremonial centers or significant architectural dedications. Consequently, a young woman buried 1.55 km from the main colony, with a minimum of goods, it is unlikely to have represented a sacrificial burial buried with human offers.

In addition, taking into account the Mayan beliefs on IK ‘, the presence of teeth of non -local individuals can relate to the transport of an ancestral soul, buried with a primary burial to establish allegations of space or kinship.

By bringing these non-local remains of ancestors to a new place, the community may have tried to establish ancestral rights by occupying the land or by maintaining ancestral links with ancestors whose primary burials are elsewhere.

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