Bloodletting in Mesoamerica
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Bloodletting was the ritualized practice of self-cutting or piercing of an individual's body that served a number of ideological and cultural functions within ancient Mesoamerican societies, in partic
Mexico, probably Guerrero, Olmec Blood-letter Handle, 1000-600BC
Lintel 24 at Yaxchilan, depicting Lady Xoc drawing a barbed rope through her tongue.
Olmec-style jadeite "spoon", believed to be a perforator, from Guerrero. 1500-300 BC
MA D293 Maya stone carving from Copan
During the pre-Columbian era, human sacrifice in Maya culture was the ritual offering of nourishment to the gods. Blood was viewed as a potent source of nourishment for the Maya deities, and the sacri
Bloodletting in Mesoamerica
…Nonetheless, the misconception that the Aztec and Maya people practised circumcision persists to this day. Human sacrifice in Maya culture Sacrifice in Maya culture…
Sculpture in the Great Ballcourt at Chichen Itza depicting sacrifice by decapitation. The figure at left holds the severed head of the figure at right, who spouts blood in the form of serpents from his neck
Lintel 24 from the city of Yaxchilan. The sculpture depicts a sacred blood-letting ritual which took place on October 28, 709. King Itzamnaaj B'alam II is shown holding a torch, while his wife Lady Xoc draws a barbed rope through her pierced tongue, British Museum.
Classic period Maya vessel with a scene of human sacrifice
A section of page 76 of the Madrid Codex, depicting sacrifice by heart extraction