When You’re Feeling Blue: Maya Blue Fibers in Dental Calculus of Sacrificial Victims

Summary

This is an abstract from the "The Subterranean in Mesoamerican Indigenous Culture and Beyond" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Surveyed in 2008–2010, Midnight Terror Cave contains the comingled remains of at least 118 Maya sacrificial victims from the Classic period (250–925 CE). Although previous studies have shown Maya populations to have high dental caries rates and enamel hypoplasia corresponding with weening, the Midnight Terror collection does not fit this trend. Given the minimal dental calculus present, two samples were taken from six teeth. Samples were divided by operation, three teeth from each. Samples were sent to the PaleoResearch Institute for analysis where they were examined for pollen, phytoliths, starches, and other inclusions. Aside from organic components, both samples were found to contain blue fibers that were ruled out as being contamination. Given the time frame needed to encase the fibers within calculus, the fibers were introduced several days or weeks prior to death, likely in the form of a gag. Victims were painted blue before being paraded to the sacrificial site. This is the first known physical evidence matching the ethnohistoric accounts of this treatment of sacrificial victims.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• The Subterranean in Mesoamerican Indigenous Culture and Beyond

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 32598