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The traditional Maya or Mayan religion of the extant Maya peoples of Guatemala, Belize, western Honduras, and the Tabasco, Chiapas, Quintana Roo, Campeche and Yucatán states of Mexico is part of the wider frame of Mesoamerican religion.
Important rituals such as the dedication of major building projects or the enthronement of a new ruler required a human sacrificial offering. The sacrifice of an enemy king was the most prized offering, and such a sacrifice involved the decapitation of the captive ruler in a ritual reenactment of the decapitation of the Maya maize god by the Maya death gods. [1]
The Mayans engaged in a large number of festivals and rituals on fixed days of the year, many of which involved animal sacrifices and all of which seem to have involved bloodletting. The ubiquity of this practice is a unique aspect of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican culture, and is now believed to have originated with the Olmecs , [ 4 ] the region's ...
For the Mayan people, certain caves were part of the underworld, considered holy and a place to perform sacred rituals. Mayans used the caves as places to communicate with their ancestors by ...
The Maya dead were laid to rest with maize placed in their mouth. Maize, highly important in Maya culture, is a symbol of rebirth and also was food for the dead for the journey to the otherworld. Similarly, a jade or stone bead placed in the mouth served as currency for this journey.
A new analysis of ancient DNA from the ancient Maya city of Chichén Itzá in Mexico challenges long-held misconceptions about the victims of ritual sacrifice.
The Maya calendar was intrinsically tied to Maya ritual, and it was central to Maya religious practices. [316] The calendar combined a non-repeating Long Count with three interlocking cycles, each measuring a progressively larger period.
The Mayan calendar’s 819-day cycle has confounded scholars for decades, but new research shows how it matches up to planetary cycles over a 45-year span ... While ancient Mayan culture offered ...