Maya's 'Cave of Blood': Uncovering ancient ritual sacrifices
At the archaeological site in Dos Pilas, Guatemala, some time ago, archaeologists made a terrifying discovery. In the "Cave of Blood," they found human remains scattered on the ground. According to scientists, these are remnants of bloody rituals conducted by the Maya.
The Maya were creators of a highly developed civilization and left behind a fascinating world that archaeologists are still keen to explore today. Some discoveries are frightening and demonstrate that the Maya engaged in cruel practices.
As reported by "LADbible," the macabre discovery was made at the archaeological site in Dos Pilas, in the department of Petén, Guatemala. This is an interesting place because during Maya times, it was a city that could have housed up to 10,000 inhabitants.
Brutal ritual in the "Cave of Blood"
As early as the beginning of the 1990s, archaeologists came across a network of caves located beneath the city. One of them was named the "Cave of Blood," or Cueva de Sangre. It was in this cave that many human remains were found scattered on the ground.
According to LADbible, a particularly compelling element of the discovery is the condition of the bones, marked by signs of trauma that point to the cave possibly having been a site for ritual killings about 2,000 years ago.
As we read, they discovered fragments of human skulls and pelvic bones, where scientists noticed that the remains were arranged in a specific way. Marks observed on some of the bones also indicate that the killer used a tool similar to an axe.
Some bones were broken, and the skulls were incised. “In Maya ritual, body parts are just as valuable as the whole body,” explained Live Science's Michele Bleuze, a bioarchaeologist from California State University in Los Angeles.
Experts noticed that a child's pelvic bone had an incision. Unfortunately, this was not an isolated case. During the bloody Maya rituals, children were also sacrificed.
According to "LADbible," another piece of evidence supporting the experts' theory is the obsidian weapon found in the cave (made from obsidian, a hard, dark volcanic glass - ed.), as well as red ochre, a natural red pigment.
"There are a few lines of evidence that we used to determine that this was more likely a ritual site than not," added Ellen Fricano, an anthropologist at Western University of Health Sciences in California, who was also involved in bone analysis.
According to scientists, parts of bodies were likely sacrificed to ancient gods to ask for rain during droughts.
