Seeds of life: symbolism of teeth from pre-Hispanic human sacrifice victims in Toniná, Chiapas

In this work we address the symbolism of human teeth in the specific case of a Postclassic Maya ossuary. For the first time, direct evidence was obtained on the practice of dental extraction in fresh bone, after death, and could be part of the post-sacrificial treatments of the victims. Many times i...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Ruiz González, Judith, Serrano Sánchez, Carlos
Formato: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2022
País:México
Recursos:INSTITUTO PANAMERICANO DE GEOGRAFÍA E HISTORIA
Repositorio:Antropología Americana
Idioma:español
OAI Identifier:oai:revistasipgh.org:article/1170
Acesso em linha:https://revistasipgh.org/index.php/anam/article/view/1170
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palavra-chave:uso ritual dentario
simbolismo dental prehispánico
cultura maya
extracción dental perimortem
Descrição
Resumo:In this work we address the symbolism of human teeth in the specific case of a Postclassic Maya ossuary. For the first time, direct evidence was obtained on the practice of dental extraction in fresh bone, after death, and could be part of the post-sacrificial treatments of the victims. Many times in the archaeological record ornaments made with human teeth have been found, such is the case of necklaces, but the question is not asked whether the manufacture required fresh or old teeth. In this work we present a dental extraction technique identified in a bone sample from Toniná Chiapas, and with this, we give an account of the importance of obtaining teeth for their ritual use in different settings.