During arecent studyconducted in the cardinal Petén realm of Guatemala , investigator from Southern Illinois University examined 108 arrowheads pick up from five Mayan archeologic site within the past 20 geezerhood . Using a process call crossover immunoelectrophoresis ( CIEP ) analysis , they discovered pedigree on 25 of the arrowheads — and on two , the blood is human .
The process has been used to detect blood in the past , include at the website of anambush in Kosovo , but this is the first clock time it has been used on ancient Mayan weapons system . Using the technology and their noesis of Mayan feeling and traditions , the squad has concluded in a report card published in theJournal of Archaeological Sciencethat a spot near a Mayan temple in Zacpetén was once used for a bloodletting ceremony to feed the gods . The arrowheads escort from the 15th to the eighteenth one C .
According toLiveScience , when the blood was tested with serums containing antibodies from dissimilar animal mintage , the results picture that human blood was present on two of the artifact . One of the arrowheads was find out in a house , with damage to the tip , which led the investigator to believe that it struck someone who survive and was carried indoors , or that the arrow was recycle .
The other arrowhead is the object believed to have been used in the ceremony , which took place rough 500 age ago . “ During the ceremonial occasion someone was rationalize clear — peradventure through the earlobe , tongue or genitalia — with an arrowhead made of obsidian ( a volcanic glass ) , and their line was spilled,”according toLiveScience . Prudence Rice , joint author of the study , explained that the Maya believe that humans had a life force that provide nourishment to the Supreme Being through bloodletting . “ We make love Mayas also participated in bloodletting as a part of birth or amount - of - age ceremonial occasion , ” articulate her co - author , Nathan Meissner . He add together that the ceremonial cutting may have been voluntary , and that the weakened person is likely to have pull round .
