Implications of age and sex determinations of ancient Maya sacrificial victims at Midnight Terror Cave. (22nd April 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Verdugo, Cristina; Zhu, Kimberly; Prout, Michael; Broomandkhoshbacht, Nasreen; Galloway, Alison; Fehren‐Schmitz, Lars; Brady, James E.
• Is Part Of: International journal of osteoarchaeology. Volume 30:Number 4(2020)
• Page Start: 458
• Page End: 468
• Publication Date: 2020-04-22
• Subjects: age -- ancient Maya -- Midnight Terror Cave -- paleogenomics -- sacrifice -- sex; Physical anthropology -- Periodicals; Human remains (Archaeology) -- Periodicals; Paleopathology -- Periodicals; Paléontologie -- Périodiques; Paléopathologie -- Périodiques; Anthropologie physique -- Périodiques; 930.10282
• DOI: 10.1002/oa.2874
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1047-482X

Abstract

Abstract: The prurient element in the popular notion of the ancient Maya sacrifice of "beautiful virgins" during the first half of the 20th century appears to have made researchers wary of studying women in human sacrifice. Interest in human sacrifice arose in the 1990s along with the formulation of the warfare hypothesis for the collapse of Maya civilization so that models of human sacrifice often assumed that victims were largely male war captives. The present study reports on the detailed examination of all the pelvises in the Midnight Terror Cave skeletal assemblage, using osteological and paleogenomic techniques to shed light on the age and sex composition of sacrificed individuals. Our analysis demonstrates the presence of both males and females ranging from subadult to older adult ages. All four paleogenomic sex determinations on samples from subadults were determined female. Additionally, results indicate females fall into two age categories suggesting that sacrificed women may have served as deity impersonators in rituals dedicated to female deities.