Human Skull Trophies Help Uncover the Maya's Mysterious Collapse
By Gabriel D. Wrobel, Michigan State University | June 14, 2019 4:29 pm
Temple 1 at the ancient Maya city of Tikal in Guatemala. (Credit: Rob Crandall/Shutterstock)
Two trophy skulls, recently discovered by archaeologists in the jungles of Belize, may help shed light on the little-understood collapse of the once powerful Classic Maya civilization.
The defleshed and painted human skulls, meant to be worn around the neck as pendants, were buried with a warrior over a thousand years ago at Pacbitun, a Maya city. They likely represent gruesome symbols of military might: war trophies made from the heads of defeated foes.
Fragment of the Pacbitun trophy skull. (Drawings by Christophe Helmke; Laserscan model by Jesse Pruitt, CC BY-ND)
Both skulls are similar to depictions of trophy skulls worn by victorious soldiers in stone carvings and on painted ceramic vessels from other Maya sites.
Drilled holes likely held feathers, leather straps or both. Other holes served to anchor the jaws in place and suspend the cranium around the warrior’s neck, while the backs were sawed off to make the skulls lie flat on the wearer’s chest.
More:
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/crux/2019/06/14/human-skull-trophies-help-uncover-the-mayas-mysterious-collapse/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A%20discovercrux%20%28The%20Crux%29#.XQRkFYhKjIU
Also posted in Anthropology:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/12294765
= new reply since forum marked as read
A quick look took me immediately to Aztecs, who were fixated upon jaguars, too:
Wikipedia
Jaguar warriors or jaguar knights, ocēlōtl Nahuatl pronunciation: [oˈseːloːt͡ɬ] (About this soundlisten) (singular)[1] or ocēlōmeh [oseːˈloːmeʔ] (plural)[1] were members of the Aztec military elite.[2] They were a type of Aztec warrior called a cuāuhocēlōtl [kʷaːwoˈseːloːt͡ɬ].[3] The word cuāuhocēlōtl derives from the eagle warrior cuāuhtli [ˈkʷaːwt͡ɬi] and the Jaguar Warrior ocēlōtl.[3] They were an elite military unit similar to the eagle warriors.
The jaguar motif was used due to the belief the jaguar represented Tezcatlipoca. Aztecs also wore this dress at war because they believed the animal's strengths would be given to them during battles.[citation needed] Jaguar warriors were used at the battlefront in military campaigns. They were also used to capture prisoners for sacrifice to the Aztec gods.[2] Many statues and images (in pre-Columbian and post-Columbian codices) of these warriors have survived.[4] They fought with a wooden club studded with obsidian volcanic glass blades, called a macuahuitl. They also used spears and atlatls.
To become a jaguar warrior, a member of the Aztec army had to capture a total of four enemies from battles.[5] This was said to honor their gods in a way far greater than killing enemy soldiers in the battlefield. For a warrior to kill an enemy was considered clumsy.
An Aztec Jaguar warrior
More:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaguar_warrior
Then, I remembered seeing jaguar images on Mayan temples, found this quickly:
TIKAL: TEMPLE OF THE JAGUAR (TEMPLO I)
JUNE 5, 2014 ROBIN HEYWORTH
. . .
The temple is commonly called the Temple of the Jaguar because of an exquisitely carved lintel found in the temple structure on top of the pyramid, which was made from sapodilla wood and depicts a king sat upon a jaguar throne. The temple has been also been dubbed the Temple of Ah Cacao, following the discovery of a burial within the pyramid structure of a ruler identified as Jasaw Chan K’awiil I. In an identical fashion to that of Pakal at Palenque, Jasaw Chan K’awiil I’s tomb was built and then the temple was erected around it, leaving the king encased within the fabric of the temple. The tomb featured a large masonry bench on which the king was laid to rest covered in jade jewellery and the chamber was filled with funerary goods, including spondylus shells, pearls, mirrors, jaguar skins, jadeite objects and painted ceramics. A set of 37 finely carved human bones were found piled at the king’s right foot. The bones were inscribed with hieroglyphic texts which described allegiances with Copan and Palenque, the king’s name and parentage, a portrait of a captive called Ox Ha Ixil from View of Templo I at Tikal from the main plaza
Templo Ithe enemy city of Calakmul and scenes of the maize deity being carried to the underworld on a canoe.
More:
https://uncoveredhistory.com/guatemala/tikal/tikal-temple-of-the-jaguar-templo-i/
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Mayan Symbols
. . .
Jaguar
The jaguar, to the Mayans, was a powerful symbol of ferocity, strength and valor. Since the big cats can see well at night, it symbolizes perception and foresight. As a god of the Mayan underworld, the jaguar ruled the celestial forces of night and day. As such, it represents control, confidence and leadership. Mayan warriors wore jaguar skins into battle as a sign of honor and courage. The Mayans held the jaguar second only to Kukulkan in religious importance.
More:
https://www.historyonthenet.com/mayan-symbols
Just these 3 extremely quick grabs show jaguars were huge to both Aztecs and Mayans, and starting to look into the Jaguar image in the Mayan world could engage a person a VERY long time in research. Had no idea what a place that image held. Wow.
Sounds like a very rewarding project to look into for some great study any time a person has some time available, along with the interests.
On the surface, it pops up right away they already wore jaguar skins if they were considered good fighters. I'm wondering if that connects with wearing skins of their victims....
Lots to consider.
Thanks, mo pinko.
(So much to learn, so little time in only one lifetime!)
Looking back we can see violent reactions to "simple" works of art as long as we've lived.
Remember a relatively recent event, the jar of urine holding a crucifix. It probably took heroic efforts to keep some of the impulsive ones from wrecking the art gallery, as starters.
When I was young, in California, a pair of grandparents, religious extremists, were visiting from the Midwest, and were taking sightseeing, with Forest Lawn Cemetery being one of the points of interest.
I think my parents thought it would appeal to them to see the world's largest painting, touted to be a block lawn, of the Crucifixion, but by the time they found a place to park the car, the grandfather had spotted some nude statues placed around the park outside, and refused to get out of the car!
The "house" holding the painting.
If only someone had thought of Attorney Justice John Ashcroft's solution, and brought tarps to throw over those statues until he had left.
Now we still have ongoing threats wherever there's a Confederate General's statue sane people would like removed.
Someone told me a man in my town plans to leave his independent living center because it doesn't display an American flag outside the building.
Absolute madness surrounding imagery. Anything could explode at any moment, apparently.
The issue of taking that power to the level of wearing the flesh of one's mortal enemy could be more intense than we could ever imagine.
Have read that Aztec priests were nearly god-like in the fear they inspired. Wouldn't doubt the very same power resided in the Mayan priesthood, as well.
Not to mention the astonishing power wielded by the Egyptian priesthood.
Now we have quotes going as headlines when one of our fundie lunatics makes pronouncements about God's wrath focused on liberals and non-Caucasians. Power given willingly to people who rise to the claim they embody divinity.
To get the ball rolling, right off the bat, the Old Testament Gawd was explained as having insisted NO GRAVEN IMAGES, can't have it.
So complex.
It can really stop one in his/her tracks the first time hearing human bodies were emptied of contents, and worn ceremonially once in the world.....
