Book contents
- The Cambridge World History of Violence
- The Cambridge History of Violence
- The Cambridge World History of Violence
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures and Table
- Contributors to Volume II
- Introduction to Volume II
- Part I Beyond Warfare: Armies, Tribes and Lords
- Part II The Violence of Governments and Rulers
- Part III Social, Interpersonal and Collective Violence
- Part IV Religious, Sacred and Ritualised Violence
- Part V Depictions of Violence
- 25 Obligation, Substitution and Order
- 26 Representations of Violence in Imperial China
- 27 Revealing the Manly Worth: Cut Flesh in the Heavenly Disorder of Medieval Japan
- 28 Picturing Violence in the Islamic Lands
- 29 Scenes of Violence in Arabic Literature
- 30 Violence Is the Name of the [Bad] Game: The Downside of Human Nature as Reflected in Medieval Literature
- 31 Violence and the Force of Representation in European Art
- Index
- References
25 - Obligation, Substitution and Order
Ritual Violence among the Ancient Maya
from Part V - Depictions of Violence
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 March 2020
- The Cambridge World History of Violence
- The Cambridge History of Violence
- The Cambridge World History of Violence
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures and Table
- Contributors to Volume II
- Introduction to Volume II
- Part I Beyond Warfare: Armies, Tribes and Lords
- Part II The Violence of Governments and Rulers
- Part III Social, Interpersonal and Collective Violence
- Part IV Religious, Sacred and Ritualised Violence
- Part V Depictions of Violence
- 25 Obligation, Substitution and Order
- 26 Representations of Violence in Imperial China
- 27 Revealing the Manly Worth: Cut Flesh in the Heavenly Disorder of Medieval Japan
- 28 Picturing Violence in the Islamic Lands
- 29 Scenes of Violence in Arabic Literature
- 30 Violence Is the Name of the [Bad] Game: The Downside of Human Nature as Reflected in Medieval Literature
- 31 Violence and the Force of Representation in European Art
- Index
- References
Summary
This chapter explores the evidence for sacrifice in ancient Mesoamerica bloodletting and other forms of self-inflicted injury, staged combat, animal sacrifice, child sacrifice, and the torture and execution of captives. The discussion integrates evidence from Maya archaeology, bioarchaeology, epigraphy, and iconography. Special attention is given to evidence for ritual violence among the Maya during the Classic period (AD 250-900). Central to the Pre-Columbian Maya worldview was an understanding of personal burden and obligation to one’s fellow humans as well as to the ancestors, gods, and other spirit beings. Humans were forever indebted for the gifts of creation and to the great works of those who came before them. Repayment was required in flesh and blood, either one’s own or that of a suitable substitute, conceptualized in a hierarchy that ordered human the natural and supernatural world.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge World History of Violence , pp. 515 - 534Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020
References
Bibliographical Essay
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