(ORDO NEWS) — Employees of California State University in 2008 were engaged in the study of the cave of midnight horror, which is located in Belize.
During the study, they found quite a lot of mixed human remains. According to preliminary data, they belonged to at least 118 people.
Scientists noted that these were sacrificed by the Maya of the Classic period (250-925 BC). This sacrifice became the largest among all those that archaeologists managed to find in the Maya lowlands.
It is customary to believe that Maya regularly performed sacrifices in the cave, which was a kind of symbol of worshiping Chaak.
This deity controlled rain in May. He was often depicted with an ax in the shape of lightning, with which the deity allegedly struck the clouds, which became the cause of strong thunder and rain.
In a new study, scientists tried to determine what the sacrificed people ate.
To do this, they conducted a microscopic analysis of tartar to determine the presence of starches, pollen, phytoliths and other substances on their surface.
An interesting point in this study was that in all samples there were blue cotton fibers that were firmly embedded in concretions.
They were administered before death in a few days or even weeks. This color can be associated with the blue pigment of Maya, which they almost always used during their sacrifices.
“We discovered traces of blue fibers in their tartar for the first time in the entire time of studying civilization,” say the scientists.
Experts believe that the dyeing of the fibers could have happened because people used blue pulque shortly before death. It is an alcoholic drink made from fermented agave juice.
It was drunk by priests during festivals, as well as those people who were going to be sacrificed. This was needed to greatly alleviate the suffering.
Another version was that gags were inserted into the mouth, because the victims could be transported several times from city to city. During this time, the fibers could become part of the concretion.
—
Online:
Contact us: [email protected]
Our Standards, Terms of Use: Standard Terms And Conditions.