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HUMAN SACRIFICE
By : Matthew Price
Who are they sacrificing??
Human Sacrifice victims
Ranging from: Elite Members of foreign polities Rulers Fellow elite members Peasant locals from surrounding area Captives Slaves Animals (Jaguar or Eagle)
How many forms are there?
Child sacrifice War captive/ slave sacrifice
War captives were used as a replacement for other elites Only elite blood can be used for bloodletting,
other elite captives have same elite blood. Self-mutilation
More forms of Sacrifice
Suicide Sub-types
1. those that commit suicide on their own free will and die
2. Those individuals that, “offered blood, but did not die because precautionary measures were taken
3. Those that were forced to offer blood and were denied the necessary aid
How many forms are there?
Bloodletting: genitals Pulling a stingray barb lined rope through your
tongue Autosacrifice
Axe/knife blow to the “Carotis triangle” [side of the neck] supplies the blood to the outer facial areas, the latter
to the interior of the skull & the BRAIN!! If the wound is not compressed within 15 minutes , damage
to the brain could become irreversible, possibly DEATH Even with appropriate compression on the wound survival
rate is ~ 5% Performed only by members of the highest nobility amoung
the classic maya
Who would DO THAT!!
Nobles : Did this under Duress
Waxaklahunu Bah K’awil , 13th ruler of Copan Pat Buts’ K’awil, of Seibal
Own free will!! K’an Hok’ Kitam II , Palenque-ruler
Herb
The ‘Milperos’ of Yucatan, Indigigenous maize farmers Know of certain medical plants, which are
highly effective in closing wounds and stopping hemorrages
Such as: Ek’ balam – which rapidly seals the
damaged blood vessel Bark of the ‘bakalche- tree’ – closes
wounds in muscular tissue
Ek balam
Why Human Sacrifice?
There are many theories behind human sacrificial rituals “Contract of the gods”
Installing the belief that the gods themselves are not immortal, constantly fluctuating between life and death
EX: Aztec maize god , Centeitl lives within the maize that is consumed by the
population the maize that is eaten is seen as the flesh of Centeotl
himself, to which is restored via human sacrificing
Ecological Hypothesis (Harner [1977a, 1977b]) suggests that the unparalleled scope of Aztec human
sacrifice and cannibalism resulted from demographic-ecological factors which created protein shortages and population pressure.
More Theories!!!
Ingham (1984) Suggested that the sacrifice of slaves and
war captives ensured the social production an reproduction of internal and external relations of domination.
Harner hypothesize that cannibalism provided a
significant source of protein. Since warfare was a prominent in the maya
culture, they practiced……
• Used as rituals to obtain sacrificial victims• Consumption of human flesh was reserved for the elite & great
warriors• This purpose was supported by a hungry population which
desired both prestige and protein in the form of human flesh.
Flower Wars
Teotihuacan
Sugiyama (2005) describes the reasons of human sacrifice as an action to, install
spiritual significance to the structure, form a contract with the gods
Temple of the Feathered Serpent Built AD 200 Found mass burial (200 victims) at base of structure
Ingham (1984) Suggests that fixed and movable festivals in ancient Mexico were
occasions for human sacrifice. Such as, tribute to the sun , b/c of its vitality and that no life could live
without it. Similar with ritual cannibalism, apparently because it was thought to
facilitate communion with the gods.
Perspectives
Religion perspective: In what way do Maya see death?
Those that are sacrificed believe to go to the Eastern Paradise
Including: Warriors who were killed in combat Even the souls of enemy warriors
Tonalli (found within Blood) What the Aztecs believe to be a basic life
force in the universe Many things can generate this:
Hearth fire, flowing lava , thick blanket, cloak, sunlight, living bodies.
More on Tonalli
It related to the social identity The more cable a person is in the field, the
greater his/her Tonalli Some people had greater Tonalli just by
birth The amount of internal Tonalli, the Aztecs
believed, was properly expressed in external appearance. One could not wear jade, feathers or wear
elegant clothing, if Tonalli was not sufficient to match such ornaments.
The logic of human sacrifice and cannibalism, rested on the exchange of Tonalli
Citations
Duncan , William. Human Cremation in Mexico 3,000 year ago. Diss. Southern Illinois University , 2008. The National Academy of Sciences , 2008. Web.
Winkelman, Michael. Aztec Human Sacrifice: Cross-Cultural Assessments of the Ecological Hypothesis . Diss. Arizona State University , Department of Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh , 1998. Web.
Harner, Michael. "the ecological basis of Aztec sacrifice." Michael Harner. 1975. Web. 10 Sep 2012.
Manzanilla, Linda. "Houses and Ancestors, Altars and Relics: Mortuary Patterns at Teotihuacan, Central Mexico." 11.1 (2002): 55-65. Web. 10 Sep. 2012.
Evans, Susan Toby. "Human Sacrifice, Militarism, and Rulership: Materialization of State Ideology at the Feathered Serpent Pyramid, Teotihuacan: ." 108.3 (2006): 620-621. Web. 10 Sep.
Barrett, Jason W, and Andrew K Scherer. "STONES, BONES, and CROWDED PLAZAS: Evidence for Terminal Classic Maya Warfare at Colha, Belize." Ancient Mesoamerica, 16.1 (2005): 101-118.
Sievert, April Kay. Maya Ceremonial Specialization: Lithic Tools from the Sacred Cenote at Chichen Itza, Yucatan. n.p.: 1990.
Spence, Michael W, and Grégory Pereira. "The Human Skeletal Remains of the Moon Pyramid, Teotihuacan." Ancient Mesoamerica, 18.1 (2007): 147-157.