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Mary Miller and Karl Taube, An Illustrated Dictionary of the Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya. Thames and Hudson, London 1993. John D. Monaghan, Theology and History in the Study of Mesoamerican Religions. Handbook of Middle American Indians, Supplement to Vol. 6. University of Texas Press, Austin 2000.
Burial practices of the Maya changed over the course of time. In the late Preclassic period , people were buried in a flexed position, later the dead were laid to rest in an extended position. In the late Classic period , the elite constructed vaulted tombs, and some rulers ordered the construction of large burial complexes.
At the core of Maya religious practice was the worship of deceased ancestors, who would intercede for their living descendants in dealings with the supernatural realm. [340] The earliest intermediaries between humans and the supernatural were shamans. [341] Maya ritual included the use of hallucinogens for chilan, oracular priests.
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]
A series of ancient walls were discovered in Mexico, leading researchers to believe they may have been used for navigation, officials said. ... The walls date to the Classic Mayan period, between ...
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 Scientists Finally Solved the Mystery of ...
The Classic Maya used dedication rituals to sanctify their living spaces and family members by associating their physical world with supernatural concepts through religious practice. The existence of such rituals is inferred from the frequent occurrence of so-called 'dedication' or 'votive' cache deposits in an archaeological context.
Beliefs and observances connected with these cave sites persist among some contemporary Mayan communities. Many of the Mayan caves served religious purposes. For this reason, the artifacts found there, alongside the epigraphic, iconographic, and ethnographic studies, help build the modern-day understanding of the Mayan religion and society.