Evidence of Bat Sacrifice in Ancient Maya Cave Ritual

Autor:	James E. Brady
Rok vydání:	2019
Předmět:	geography geography.geographical_feature_category History Cave Sacrifice Speleothem Maya General Medicine Archaeology Ancient maya Natural (archaeology)
Zdroj:	Archaeological Discovery. :84-91
ISSN:	2331-1967 2331-1959
Popis:	Excavations conducted in Naj Tunich, Peten, Guatemala encountered a number of slabs of speleothem curtains that were used as altars. Two of these contained bat skeletons suggesting that bats had been sacrificed as part of ceremonies carried out in the cave. A review of the archaeological literature documents that remains of bats has been reported in burials, caches, and constructions. Naj Tunich, however, is the first instance of sacrifice occurring in a cave which raises the problem of distinguishing between cultural as opposed to natural deposition. A series of propositions are advanced for dealing with the issue.
Databáze:	OpenAIRE
Externí odkaz:	https://explore.openaire.eu/search/publication?articleId=doi_________::04538d3a98cdc90d5af1514e809e7223 https://doi.org/10.4236/ad.2019.72006 Zobrazit plný text záznamu