Researchers have published a finding in the journal Nature, which has excited even more researchers. Their work has brought the modern world just a bit closer to understanding more about the Mayans and their ritualistic sacrifices.

The study is based on the remains of those who were sacrificed discovered in a mass burial site in the ancient Maya city of Chichén Itzá in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula.

The study, titled “Ancient Genomes Reveal Insights into Ritual Life at Chichén Itzá,” was published on June 12 in the journal Nature. It used genome data of 64 deceased “subadult individuals” from a large ceremonial sinkhole to learn more about how the Mayans are genetically related to Mesoamerican groups.

The research was fruitful, and it turned up some answers to their questions. According to the lead study author, Rodrigo Barquera, a researcher in the Department of Archaeogenetics at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, those surprises surprised them. 

One of the revelations that had the researchers shocked has to do with the sex of those they found at the site. Myths suggested that Mayans would sacrifice virgins or young girls because, in the past, Identifying sex characteristics from a child’s skeleton was very challenging. 

Many people believe the Mayan religious practices of that era had them haul virgins to their deaths at the Sacred Well for their ritual sacrifices. However, thanks to the recent discovery, it is clear that is not true. 

Analysis of the ancient DNA of the remains they found at the site revealed that they had all been young boys, which counters the preexisting idea that the sacred Chichén Itzá sinkhole was reserved for “virgin” sacrifice. This is all thanks to progress in technology, which now enables researchers to retrieve minute amounts of DNA and also carry out large-scale genomic studies. 

The first revelation was that all those found at the site were boys. The second was that some of the victims they found at the site were related. Even more interesting is the fact that there were two sets of twins among them. 

There were two pairs of twins among the boys. Many of the child victims were also related either as siblings or cousins. They were all between the ages of three and six years old at the time of their demise and are believed to have been chosen from among the local population.

Another discovery the researchers made that seemed to confirm the theory of the kids being related is that they all ate similar diets. That led to the conclusion that the boys were raised in the same household. Analysis of the DNA also revealed that 25% of the victims were close relatives.

Vera Tiesler, a different researcher not linked to the study, shared her thoughts on the findings via an email she sent to CNN. Tiesler expressed surprise at finding out the victims were family members, considering the space of time it took for the bodies to slowly accumulate. The research revealed that it took about 500 years for the considerable accumulation to occur, which makes it even more interesting. 

According to radiocarbon Dating, the kids were buried in an underground cavern between 800 and 1,000 AD. Around the same time, Chichén Itzá was enjoying heightened political influence and power in the region.

Mayans believed sacrifices would keep their staple crops thriving. Researchers have theorized that the sacrifices often happened in response to a drought or crisis to appease Chaac, the Maya deity with power over rain. The recent discoveries of researchers coincide with the story of the Hero twins Hunahpu and Xbalanque, who allegedly traveled to the underworld before they were resurrected, which mirrors the agricultural cycle of crops.