Ancient Mayans Sacrificed Young Boys, Many Closely Related, Says Study

Recent examinations by experts have revealed a crucial detail regarding Mayan sacrifices. The analysis was conducted on the findings collected from Mexico's Yucatan peninsula, Newsweek reported. The area used to be home to the ancient city of Chichén Itzá. Archaeologists found remains of humans from the site, which they consider to be sacrifices made for various rituals.

Researchers believe that Mayan culture preferred female sacrifices for their rituals, the remains found on this site though proved otherwise. Results regarding the analysis of these remains have been published in Nature. 

In 1967, researchers found an underground chamber at the site filled with the remains of at least 100 children, Smithsonian Magazine reported. The children were all buried for over 500 years from the seventh century until the 12th century. Initially, all researchers had to analyze was the skeletons’ stature, based on which they determined the deceased's ages. The advent of new technology has now allowed scientists to examine many of these remains genetically.

Genetic examinations uncovered that most of the remains were of boys, with many being related to each other, Smithsonian Magazine reported. "Most of them were between 3 and 6 years old," lead author of the study, Rodrigo Barquera, a researcher at Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany added. "Since many of the individuals were related to each other to some extent, that tells us that it’s probable that only specific families would have had access to this burial and that not just anyone could put their kids in there—it was a big honor."

Some of the deceased have also been identified as twins, Newsweek reported. The study points out connections between the findings and the Mayan spiritual text, the Popol Vuh. The text is centered around the stories of Hero Twins, who continually undergo cycles of sacrifice and resurrection. Researchers believe that sacrifices buried at Chichén Itzá could have been mirroring these ancient stories in terms of their subjects. 

Past assumptions that Mayan culture preferred female sacrifices have been questioned due to these discoveries, Newsweek reported. "Early 20th-century accounts falsely popularized lurid tales of young women and girls being sacrificed at the site," said Christina Warinner of Harvard University. "This study turns that story on its head and reveals the deep connections between ritual sacrifice and the cycles of human death and rebirth described in sacred Maya texts."

Apart from the upending long-held beliefs regarding the Mayan culture, genetic analysis also revealed the devastating impact of colonial-era epidemics on the Maya population, Newsweek reported. "The present-day Maya carry the genetic scars of these colonial-era epidemics," Barquera said. "Multiple lines of evidence point to specific genetic changes in the immune genes of present-day Mexicans of Indigenous and mixed-ancestry descent that are linked to enhanced resistance to Salmonella enterica infection."

The examination has allowed researchers to understand more about Mayan culture and the challenges they faced in the past, Newsweek reported. "The new information gained from ancient DNA has not only allowed us to dispel outdated hypotheses and assumptions and to gain new insights into the biological consequences of past events, it has given us a glimpse into the cultural lives of the ancient Maya," Johannes Krause, senior author, and director of the Department of Archaeogenetics at the Max Planck Institutes for Evolutionary Anthropology said.