Human trophy taking in Mesoamerica
Most of the ancient civilizations of Mesoamerica such as the Olmec, Maya, Mixtec, Zapotec and Aztec cultures practiced some kind of taking of human trophies during warfare.
Evidence of the ritualistic sacrifice and taking human body parts as trophies in Maya civilization exists from as far back as the Middle Formative period (800 – 500 BC).
The evidence consists of skeletal remains and depictions in Maya iconography, commonly showing acts of human sacrifice.
Excavations at the non-Maya site of Teotihuacan have unearthed the remains of hundreds of bodies that are thought to represent a mass sacrifice at the Temple of the Feathered Serpent.
[1] At the Temple of the Moon, another excavation site, there were a number of decapitated remains found along with numerous bound bodies of headless males.
This was a selective social practice in which ancestors were considered a subset of all the deceased and were the ones who validated political power, status and access to resources.
For instance, at the site of Bonampak, photographer Giles Healy discovered exquisite murals showing a battle and its aftermath, including the torture of captives.
Other examples of Maya art depicting sacrifice and torture include carved stone stelae, altars, and panels.
In Maya iconography, these heads are usually fastened upright with the eyes opened and are worn on a belt that is positioned on the small of the wearer's back.
[8] In Oaxaca there are various pre-Columbian figures in which high-ranking characters, warriors and ball players wear ritual and military paraphernalia, holding inverted heads with their loose, long hair hanging down.
Urcid’s article in El Sacrificio Humano en la Tradición Religiosa Mesoamericana includes eight illustrations of these trophies in the southern west of Mexico, including a brazier depicting a ball player with a flayed facial mask, wearing a necklace of human bones and carrying a severed head.
D6-1) containing varied amounts of adult male crania that have been interpreted as trophy heads or possibly dismembered sacrificial retainers.
There were cut marks on the crania and the remains were burnt, and the age grouping and the location of the pit has led to multiple conclusions on the reasons behind these sacrifices.
Other hypotheses are that the victims were political prisoners treated with ritual violence or that they were ancestors of an elite lineage that was violently deposed.
Along with the maxillae, the men had necklaces made of teeth, obsidian projectile points and slate disks located behind their lower back, which were commonly found on Teotihuacan military figures.
