Subject: sahal noble war chief

Culture: Maya

Setting: Late Classical Period, Mesoamerica ca.600-900

Event Photos

* Schele/Miller 1986 210

"The monuments the Maya used to commemorate warfare are diverse. Painted and carved scenes depicting war or related events tell much about the significance of warfare to the Maya. Their garments and other objects, such as weapons and figurines of warriors, contribute to an understanding of how the Maya fought. And characteristic Maya representations of war can begin to reveal the reasons the Maya fought and their attitudes toward war. The monuments that commemorate warfare and sacrifice record discrete stages of the ritual, from preparations to presentation of captives and their final sacrifice. Depictions of warfare show that warriors did not take their captives easily but, rather, through aggressive hand-to-hand combat, after which, captured warriors were stripped of their battle finery and led back to the city of the victors. In rituals that paralleled the auto-sacrifice of the reigning royal family, captives were bled and mutilated -- their blood and flesh offered to the gods and ancestors -- and eventually killed."

Primary Sources

Secondary Sources

Field Notes