GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Sacrifice and bloodletting were essential ritual events that served various ideological and cultural functions within Mesoamerican cultures, particularly the Maya. Human sacrifice usually involved the taking of captives during warfare for the purpose of sacrifice or bloodletting. Bloodletting was the ritual autosacrifice or puncturing of a part of the body (either oneself or another person), generally the tongue or cheek for women and the penis for men, often collecting the blood on paper which was then burned as an offering to the gods. Piercing was done with sharp objects such as obsidian blades or stingray spines, and there are representations in Maya art of a rope with thorns being pulled through the tongue or earlobes. For elites, both bloodletting and sacrifice (and in turn the taking of captives) were necessary to maintain balance within the supernatural world and the sociopolitical structure, and was essential in order to legitimize rulership and elite positions of power.
Adapted from
Mary Ellen Miller and Megan E. O'Neil, Maya art and architecture, 2nd edition (London: Thames & Hudson, 2014): 30, 152-154, 245.
NOTES
NOTE: Please use image in DMA collections, preferably 2005.26. (See rules)
ASSOCIATED CONTENT CHUNKS
AUDIO ASSETS
13311732: UMO. Audio: ArtMayaRoyalSacrifice - 2/17/2006, "Art of Maya Royal Sacrifice," Late night lecture in conjunction with Lords of Creation: The Origins of Sacred Maya Kingship, February 12- May 7, 2006; speaker is from the Department of Anthropology at Southern Methodist University, David Freidel. [Note: Discusses Cylindrical vessel with sacrificial scene (2005.26)].
VIDEO ASSETS
IMAGE ASSETS
WEB RESOURCES
ARCHIVAL RESOURCES
FUN FACTS
TEACHING IDEAS
RULES
SET OPERATOR AS OR
apply to OBJECTS where number equals 2005.26
apply to OBJECTS where number equals 1973.30
apply to OBJECTS where number equals 2008.78
apply to OBJECTS where number equals 2008.83
apply to OBJECTS where number equals 2008.85
apply to OBJECTS where number equals 1973.42
apply to OBJECTS where number equals 1988.129
apply to OBJECTS where number equals 1973.32
apply to OBJECTS where number equals 1990.175
apply to OBJECTS where number equals 1972.11
Category
rules_operator
OR
General Description
Sacrifice and bloodletting were essential ritual events that served various ideological and cultural functions within Mesoamerican cultures, particularly the Maya. Human sacrifice usually involved the taking of captives during warfare for the purpose of sacrifice or bloodletting. Bloodletting was the ritual autosacrifice or puncturing of a part of the body (either oneself or another person), generally the tongue or cheek for women and the penis for men, often collecting the blood on paper which was then burned as an offering to the gods. Piercing was done with sharp objects such as obsidian blades or stingray spines, and there are representations in Maya art of a rope with thorns being pulled through the tongue or earlobes. For elites, both bloodletting and sacrifice (and in turn the taking of captives) were necessary to maintain balance within the supernatural world and the sociopolitical structure, and was essential in order to legitimize rulership and elite positions of power.
Adapted from
Mary Ellen Miller and Megan E. O'Neil, Maya art and architecture, 2nd edition (London: Thames & Hudson, 2014): 30, 152-154, 245.
Fun Facts
Archival Resources
Web Resources
Notes
NOTE: Please use image in DMA collections, preferably 2005.26. (See rules)
source file
cultures_and_traditions-0116.xml.nores