![]() 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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