World news
‘Sacrificial’ burial uncovered in Ecuador The remains of a woman who suffered a violent death between AD 771 and AD 953 have been excavated in Buen Suceso, a site in coastal Ecuador. The woman was aged 17-20, and was between…
human sacrifice
In the Darkest of Days: exploring human sacrifice and value in southern Scandinavian prehistory
REVIEW BY MARIANNE HEM ERIKSEN Human sacrifice constitutes a perennially fascinating topic for scholars and general audiences alike. It is also a research area where the risk of leaning into sensationalism and exoticisation can be relatively high. In the Darkest…
Twin sacrifice at Chichén Itzá
DNA analysis of human remains from a mass burial at Chichén Itzá in Mexico is revealing new details about the ritual practices of the ancient Maya, as well as their genetic links to modern populations. In 1967, the remains of…
Evidence of human sacrifice from Iron Age Dorset?
The skeleton of an Iron Age woman found in Winterborne Kingston, Dorset, has revealed rare material evidence of possible human sacrifice from this period. The site has been extensively excavated by Bournemouth University teams for more than 15 years, owing…
World news: From ritual practices in Poland to Rapa Nui’s writing system
Ritual practices in prehistoric Poland A considerable number of large Bronze Age and early Iron Age artefacts have been unearthed by archaeologists in a dried-up lakebed at the site of Papowo Biskupie in north-central Poland. It is believed that members…
Meretneith’s wine
New evidence found at Umm el Qa‘ab (‘Mother of Pots’) in Abydos has shed light on the importance of the First Dynasty queen Meretneith (or Merneith), and casts doubt on the theory of ritual human sacrifice as part of royal…
Elite Wari burials uncovered in northern Peru
Excavations have uncovered a significant section of the site’s necropolis, which the archaeologists are calling ‘The Gallery of the Elite Craftsmen’.
The Great Maya Aquifer: exploring a hidden world beneath the Yucatán Peninsula
Southeast Mexico is rich in caves. This extraordinary underworld has influenced human activity for thousands of years. Now a project dedicated to understanding and preserving this realm is shedding new light on the archaeology of the Yucatán Peninsula, as Guillermo de Anda told Matthew Symonds.
Pre-Columbian mass grave found in Peru
Although the Chimú are known to have practised human sacrifice, it is currently not possible to say whether this is the case here.
This week: Peru
A number of imaginative solutions to the global-warming crisis were on offer this month, as world leaders gathered in Glasgow to discuss ways of tackling climate change – but one subject that was not up for discussion was human sacrifice. As a fascinating new exhibition on the history and culture of Peru makes clear, however, the Inca and other pre-Columbian civilisations of the central Andean region had no such qualms.
Rethinking the Ancient Druids
In her latest book, Miranda Aldhouse-Green argues that we can broadly accept the portrait made of the Druids by ancient Greek and Roman writers, including their alleged practice of human sacrifice; and that many archaeological finds – cherry-picked from all…
‘Tower of skulls’ discovered in Tenochtitlan
Excavations in Mexico City have discovered a new section of the Aztec skull rack known as the Huei Tzompantli.