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Death as a human sacrifice awaited some travellers to a Mayan city

People whose remains were consigned to a sinkhole in Mexico might have journeyed more than 1,000 kilometres to the site.
A general view of the El Castillo pyramid on September 30, 2018 in Chichen Itza, Mexico

The victims of ritual killings in the Mayan city of Chichén Itzá (pictured) included migrants from far-flung parts of Central America. Credit: Donald Miralle/Getty

On the edge of the ancient Mayan metropolis of Chichén Itzá, a deep sinkhole serves as the resting place for the bones of countless children and adults killed in Mayan rituals. New chemical analysis shows that these victims hailed from at least three different regions of Central America — hinting that long-distance migration helped to fuel Chichén Itzá’s booming population.

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Nature 571, 451 (2019)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-02175-6

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