The ancient Maya city of Chichén Itzá in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, long associated with human sacrifice, has yielded hundreds of bones from temples, a sacred sinkhole, and other underground caverns. A common misconception has been that the victims were mostly young females, a notion firmly rooted in contemporary imagination. However, new research published in the journal Nature on Wednesday reveals a more nuanced picture.
The study analyzed ancient DNA from the remains of 64 individuals believed to have been ritually sacrificed and deposited in an underground chamber. Contrary to prior beliefs, the victims were all young boys, many closely related.
“There were two big moments of surprise here,” said lead author Rodrigo Barquera, a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. “We were expecting, influenced by traditional archaeology, to find either a non-gender-biased burial or mostly girls. The second surprise was discovering that some of the victims were related, including two sets of twins.”
Historically, the idea that the Maya only sacrificed young women or girls was largely a myth originating from early, romanticized accounts of Chichén Itzá’s sacred sinkhole, or cenote, explained Rubén Mendoza, an archaeologist and professor at California State University, Monterey Bay. Mendoza, an editor of a new book on ritual sacrifice in Mesoamerica, was not involved in the study.
“This characterization of Maya sacrifice was catapulted to the forefront through media depictions of young maidens being hurled to their deaths at the Sacred Well,” he said.
Identifying the sex of child skeletons based on bone analysis alone is challenging. The differences in pelvis and other bones that distinguish male from female emerge only during puberty. Genetic analysis, however, offers a solution. Coauthor Christina Warinner, a professor at Harvard University and a group leader at the Max Planck Institute, noted that advances in ancient DNA technology are now making it possible to conduct large-scale genomic studies even in tropical areas where DNA degradation is a concern.
“We’re getting better at retrieving even small amounts of DNA, allowing us to apply ancient DNA as a tool to understand the past in Mesoamerica,” Warinner said. “This is an area with incredibly rich history, and I am excited about the possibilities.”
The study extracted and sequenced DNA from 64 out of around 100 individuals whose remains were found in a water chultún, an underground storage chamber discovered in 1967 near the sacred sinkhole in Chichén Itzá. Radiocarbon dating showed that the chamber was used over a span of 500 years, primarily between AD 800 and 1000, during Chichén Itzá’s peak political power.
DNA analysis revealed that all the victims were boys, aged between 3 and 6 years, and drawn from the local Maya population. At least a quarter of the boys were closely related, including twins, siblings, and cousins, suggesting that related male children were likely selected in pairs for sacrifices.
The study also showed that related children had similar diets, reinforcing the idea that they were chosen based on familial connections. Vera Tiesler, a bioarchaeologist at the Autonomous University of Yucatán, who was not involved in the research, found it surprising that family members were included, considering the long timespan over which the bodies accumulated.
To avoid double sampling, the team used the petrous bone from each child, enabling them to identify identical twins. Twins hold special significance in Maya mythology, particularly in the story of the “Hero Twins.”
It remains unclear how or why the children were sacrificed, though methods at the time included decapitation and heart removal. Barquera emphasized that the Maya’s view of death and sacrifice was different from modern perspectives, viewing such rituals as opportunities rather than losses.
This study was also significant for connecting present-day Maya communities to their ancestors. DNA comparison with residents of Tixcacaltuyub revealed a close genetic link, delighting the community members. The research also uncovered genetic variants in the local population that may have protected against diseases like salmonella, brought by European colonizers.
For María Ermila Moo-Mezeta, a Mayan coauthor and research professor, the findings help preserve the historical memory of the Mayan people. Tiesler believes this study is a starting point for further research into the complex history of the Maya.