Genetic Study Reveals Maya Elite Lineages Deliberately Placed Remains in Multiple Sacred Sites
A genomic study of 430 ancient Maya individuals found that 24 people had body parts buried in both elite tombs and ritual tooth caches in caves located across the Maya Mountains in Belize. The research, covering an Early Classic Period kingdom (250–750 CE), used genome-wide data to identify biological relationships among remains that could not be distinguished by archaeology alone. The findings reveal that elite Maya lineages practiced geographically expansive ancestor veneration, underscoring the deep ritual significance of caves in Classic Maya belief.
Researchers screened 487 samples and successfully generated genome-wide data for 430 samples representing at least 145 distinct individuals from an Early Classic Maya kingdom in the Maya Mountains of Belize, dating to approximately 250–750 CE. Among these, 24 individuals were found to have skeletal remains distributed across two distinct locations: elite tombs and ritual tooth caches deposited in caves on the opposite side of the mountain range. The geographic separation between the two deposit types — spanning a significant landscape barrier — suggests deliberate, organized practices of dividing the dead across sacred spaces. Classic Maya rulership was legitimized through claims of descent from mythical ancestors, and mortuary practices were central to maintaining those political and spiritual claims. The study demonstrates that elite lineages actively constructed ancestral identities in spatially expansive ways, rather than confining remains to a single burial context. The results also highlight caves as important nodes in the ritual geography of Classic Maya elites, not peripheral or incidental sites. Without genetic data, the biological connections among these disarticulated remains would have been impossible to establish through traditional archaeological methods alone.
What's missing
The study does not detail the specific mechanisms or social actors responsible for transporting and depositing remains across the Maya Mountains, leaving open questions about who performed these rituals and over what timespan the deposits accumulated. It is also unclear whether the 24 individuals with split remains represent a consistent practice across the kingdom or exceptional cases tied to particular high-status individuals or events. The preprint has not yet undergone formal peer review, which is a standard caveat for bioRxiv publications.
What different sources said
- bioRxivCenter
Buried in two places: Lineages from elite Maya tombs also found in distant caves
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