HUMAN SACRIFICE

By : Matthew Price

Who are they sacrificing??

Human Sacrifice victims

Ranging from: Elite Members of foreign polities Rulers Fellow elite members Peasant locals from surrounding area Captives Slaves Animals (Jaguar or Eagle)

How many forms are there?

Child sacrifice War captive/ slave sacrifice

War captives were used as a replacement for other elites Only elite blood can be used for bloodletting,

other elite captives have same elite blood. Self-mutilation

More forms of Sacrifice

Suicide Sub-types

1. those that commit suicide on their own free will and die

2. Those individuals that, “offered blood, but did not die because precautionary measures were taken

3. Those that were forced to offer blood and were denied the necessary aid

How many forms are there?

Bloodletting: genitals Pulling a stingray barb lined rope through your

tongue Autosacrifice

Axe/knife blow to the “Carotis triangle” [side of the neck] supplies the blood to the outer facial areas, the latter

to the interior of the skull & the BRAIN!! If the wound is not compressed within 15 minutes , damage

to the brain could become irreversible, possibly DEATH Even with appropriate compression on the wound survival

rate is ~ 5% Performed only by members of the highest nobility amoung

the classic maya

Who would DO THAT!!

Nobles : Did this under Duress

Waxaklahunu Bah K’awil , 13th ruler of Copan Pat Buts’ K’awil, of Seibal

Own free will!! K’an Hok’ Kitam II , Palenque-ruler

Herb

The ‘Milperos’ of Yucatan, Indigigenous maize farmers Know of certain medical plants, which are

highly effective in closing wounds and stopping hemorrages

Such as: Ek’ balam – which rapidly seals the

damaged blood vessel Bark of the ‘bakalche- tree’ – closes

wounds in muscular tissue

Ek balam

Why Human Sacrifice?

There are many theories behind human sacrificial rituals “Contract of the gods”

Installing the belief that the gods themselves are not immortal, constantly fluctuating between life and death

EX: Aztec maize god , Centeitl lives within the maize that is consumed by the

population the maize that is eaten is seen as the flesh of Centeotl

himself, to which is restored via human sacrificing

Ecological Hypothesis (Harner [1977a, 1977b]) suggests that the unparalleled scope of Aztec human

sacrifice and cannibalism resulted from demographic-ecological factors which created protein shortages and population pressure.

More Theories!!!

Ingham (1984) Suggested that the sacrifice of slaves and

war captives ensured the social production an reproduction of internal and external relations of domination.

Harner hypothesize that cannibalism provided a

significant source of protein. Since warfare was a prominent in the maya

culture, they practiced……

• Used as rituals to obtain sacrificial victims• Consumption of human flesh was reserved for the elite & great

warriors• This purpose was supported by a hungry population which

desired both prestige and protein in the form of human flesh.

Flower Wars

Teotihuacan

Sugiyama (2005) describes the reasons of human sacrifice as an action to, install

spiritual significance to the structure, form a contract with the gods

Temple of the Feathered Serpent Built AD 200 Found mass burial (200 victims) at base of structure

Ingham (1984) Suggests that fixed and movable festivals in ancient Mexico were

occasions for human sacrifice. Such as, tribute to the sun , b/c of its vitality and that no life could live

without it. Similar with ritual cannibalism, apparently because it was thought to

facilitate communion with the gods.

Perspectives

Religion perspective: In what way do Maya see death?

Those that are sacrificed believe to go to the Eastern Paradise

Including: Warriors who were killed in combat Even the souls of enemy warriors

Tonalli (found within Blood) What the Aztecs believe to be a basic life

force in the universe Many things can generate this:

Hearth fire, flowing lava , thick blanket, cloak, sunlight, living bodies.

More on Tonalli

It related to the social identity The more cable a person is in the field, the

greater his/her Tonalli Some people had greater Tonalli just by

birth The amount of internal Tonalli, the Aztecs

believed, was properly expressed in external appearance. One could not wear jade, feathers or wear

elegant clothing, if Tonalli was not sufficient to match such ornaments.

The logic of human sacrifice and cannibalism, rested on the exchange of Tonalli

Citations

Duncan , William. Human Cremation in Mexico 3,000 year ago. Diss. Southern Illinois University , 2008. The National Academy of Sciences , 2008. Web.

Winkelman, Michael. Aztec Human Sacrifice: Cross-Cultural Assessments of the Ecological Hypothesis . Diss. Arizona State University , Department of Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh , 1998. Web.

Harner, Michael. "the ecological basis of Aztec sacrifice." Michael Harner. 1975. Web. 10 Sep 2012.

Manzanilla, Linda. "Houses and Ancestors, Altars and Relics: Mortuary Patterns at Teotihuacan, Central Mexico." 11.1 (2002): 55-65. Web. 10 Sep. 2012.

Evans, Susan Toby. "Human Sacrifice, Militarism, and Rulership: Materialization of State Ideology at the Feathered Serpent Pyramid, Teotihuacan: ." 108.3 (2006): 620-621. Web. 10 Sep.

Barrett, Jason W, and Andrew K Scherer. "STONES, BONES, and CROWDED PLAZAS: Evidence for Terminal Classic Maya Warfare at Colha, Belize." Ancient Mesoamerica, 16.1 (2005): 101-118.

Sievert, April Kay. Maya Ceremonial Specialization: Lithic Tools from the Sacred Cenote at Chichen Itza, Yucatan. n.p.: 1990.

Spence, Michael W, and Grégory Pereira. "The Human Skeletal Remains of the Moon Pyramid, Teotihuacan." Ancient Mesoamerica, 18.1 (2007): 147-157.