Civilization revolution trophies8/6/2023 ![]() But beginning in the southern lowlands of Guatemala, Belize and Honduras in the eighth century AD, people abandoned major Maya cities throughout the region. ![]() The vast Maya empire flourished throughout Central America, with the first major cities appearing between 750 and 500 BC. Map: The Conversation, CC-BY-ND What ended a civilization? ![]() Over time the Southern sites lost power as the Northern sites gained it. ![]() Maya civilization at its peak: The Maya civilization thrived for centuries in Central America, covering southeastern Mexico, all of Guatemala and Belize, and portions of Honduras and El Salvador. What do these skulls - where they were found and who they were from - tell us about the end of a powerful political system that thrived for centuries, covering southeastern Mexico, all of Guatemala and Belize, and portions of Honduras and El Salvador? My colleagues and I are thinking about them as clues to understanding this tumultuous period. It’s carved with glyphic writing that includes what my collaborator Christophe Helmke, an expert on Maya writing, believes is the first known instance of the Maya term for “trophy skull.” 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.įlecks of red paint decorate one of the jaws. Drawing by Ian Grahamĭrilled holes likely held feathers, leather straps or both. At the small of his back, the victorious king wears a decorated trophy skull. Drawings by Christophe Helmke Laserscan model by Jesse Pruittīoth skulls are similar to depictions of trophy skulls worn by victorious soldiers in stone carvings and on painted ceramic vessels from other Maya sites.Ī carving from the Maya city of Yaxchilan depicts the local ruler forcing a subdued captive to kiss the shield of his captor. They likely represent gruesome symbols of military might: war trophies made from the heads of defeated foes.įragment of the Pacbitun trophy skull. 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. 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.
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