New Perspectives on Human Sacrifice and Ritual Body Treatment in Ancient Maya Society

Human sacrifice among the ancient Maya is a topic of widespread interest. It has triggered awe and romanticism in the general public, which often leads to unfounded myths and misjudgments. This book dispels those myths by bringing together an international group of both well-established scholars and accredited young experts in the field to provide a fresh, objective look at ritual violence in the Maya realm from an academic perspective. These experts offer new evidence of human sacrifice in Classic and Postclassic period sites like Calakmul and the Sacred Cenote of Chichen Itza, as well as cave contexts from Belize. The contributions analyze meanings, agents, occasions, and sacrificial procedures, along with post-sacrificial body processing. They address questions about the recognition and interpretation of ancient Maya sacrificial behavior with a multidisciplinary approach. Generalized issues of provenance and the social and health status of sacrificial victims are presented, as well as a joint discussion that gives the work an updated, continental scope. Book jacket.