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Aztec obsidian blades12/6/2023 Once they knew what they were looking for, they examined blades collected in western Belize that date mostly to the late Classic period, between 600 and 900 A.D. Since the blades were found in places with ritual significance to the Maya, such as the Handprint Cave-caves are thought to be portals to the underworld-or around graves, archaeologists were already fairly sure they weren't used for everyday kitchen cutting. They then compared these patterns to those left on actual obsidian blades, and found some matches. After performing the bloodletting techniques using these tools, they found certain patterns they could identify using powerful microscopes. So he and other researchers, including Jaime Awe from Northern Arizona University, wisely decided to try the replicas on pigskin instead. “The thought crossed my mind,” he says, “but I’m afraid something would go horribly wrong.” Performing the practice himself, though, didn't seem like a great idea. To do that, Stemp needed to use fresh replicas of the tools and see how they worked. But it wasn’t an everyday affair-which poses a challenge for archaeologists looking for certain use-wear patterns on obsidian blades and other tools of the trade, to determine whether they were used to let the blood flow. It was this custom which led he historian of the Indies to say that they practised circumcision.”īloodletting practices likely continued among some Maya in traditional areas even up until the early 20 th century, says Stemp. At other times they perforated their cheeks or the lower lip again they made cuts in parts of the body, or pierced the tongue crossways and passed stalks through, causing extreme pain again they cut away the superfluous part of the member, leaving the flesh in the form of cars. The carving, found in the Yaxchilan,Mexico, resides at the British Museum.ĭiego de Landa, a bishop of Yucatan in the mid-16 th century known for committing atrocities against the Maya, reported other gruesome details in his book Relation of the Things of Yucatan:Īt times they sacrificed their own blood, cutting all around the ears in strips which they let remain as a sign. One famous Classic period carving from Yaxchilan, in modern day Chiapas in southern Mexico, shows Lady Xoc, a 7th century queen consort in the ancient Maya city, drawing a barbed rope through her tongue.Ī carving depicting Lady K'ab'al Xook, wife of king Shield Jaguar II, drawing a barbed wire through her tongue. Stone carvings depict the heads of gods emerging directly from these "vision serpents," which were thought to be a gateway to the supernatural world, Stemp says. Historians have gleaned some of this knowledge through depictions in Maya artwork. “As the smoke comes through the air, the Maya gods or ancestors will appear to the Maya and give them the information they need to be successful in whatever they want," Stemp said, noting that this these gods would often appear in the form of a medium known as the "vision serpent." For the males, we know that they also bloodlet from the penis," says Stemp.* After piercing or slicing into themselves, they would let the blood-which was believed to contained life force-drip onto cotton or another material which they would then burn. “Among the more common would be earlobes, nostrils, lips and tongues. While sometimes this meant sacrificing others, a small personal donation would do in a pinch. was the main way in which they could kind of control what was happening to them."īut everything has a price, and the gods took their payment in blood. “The Maya kings and queens would often have to conduct blood-letting rituals in order to gain the favor of the gods and their ancestors," says Stemp, who is the author of a study recently published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. “In a world where everything is controlled by the supernatural, the Maya believed that their abilities to contact the supernatural . The practice of bloodletting was used to open a dialogue with gods or ancestors that could help the ancient Maya, says James Stemp, an archaeology professor at Keene State College in New Hampshire. Now, archaeologists are using new techniques to identify these tools-sharpening our understanding of how common bloodletting was and giving insight into the social contexts that drove the practice. The problem is, it's hard to be sure. Researchers find obsidian blades all over the place, and many of them appear to have been used simply as kitchen knives. Archaeologists have long assumed that Maya tools like obsidian blades, bone needles and even stingray tails found in ritual contexts were used for bloodletting rituals.
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