The mystery of why ancient South American peoples who created the mysterious Nazca Lines also collected human heads as trophies has long puzzled scholars who theorize the heads may have been used in fertility rites, taken from enemies in battle or associated with ancestor veneration.A recent study using specimens from Chicago’s Field Museum throws new light on the matter by establishing that trophy heads came from people who lived in the same place and were part of the same culture as those who collected them. These people lived 2,000 to 1,500 years ago.Archaeologists determined that the severed headswere trophies because holes were made in the skulls allowing the heads to be suspended from woven cords.
A debate has been raging for the past 100 years over their meaning.
Trophy heads
in the Field collection were gathered from the Nazca Drainage of the
arid southern Peruvian coast 80 years ago by noted American
anthropologist Alfred Louis Kroeber (1876-1960). He also collected
remains of some people buried normally. In some cases, the trophy heads
were buried with their collectors.
Because Nazca is among the
driest places on Earth, said Ryan Williams, a Field Museum curator, the
specimens Kroeber collected were very well preserved. The dead bodies
were naturally mummified and some trophy heads still had their hair as
well as the display cords attached to the skull. The museum also has
several examples of Nazca pottery illustrated with trophyheads; some
of the pots are on display in the museum’s Ancient Americas exhibition.
“Illustrations on some pots
depict warriors and trophy heads,” said Williams. “But there are also
scenes that link trophy heads to agricultural fertility. Mythical
creatures depicted on some pots carry trophy heads as well.”
Researchers speculated that
if trophy heads were spoils of war, they likely would have come from
people who lived somewhere beyond the Nazca area. To test this notion,
scientists took samples of tooth enamel from 16 trophy heads in the
Field collection and 13 mummified bodies buried in the Nazca region.
The results clearly show that donors of the trophy heads were from the
same place as the people who kept the trophies, Williams said. This
conclusion was based on research using modern technology to look for
subtled......
To continue please sign in with your Hotsposz ID... If you are new to Hotspotsz you can
register a new ID .
Articles similar to "Discovery helps solve mystery of South American trophy heads"
Archaeologists have uncovered carved stucco panels depicting cosmic monsters, gods and serpents in Guatemala's northern jungle. They are the oldest known depictions of a famous Mayan creation myth. The 26ft long panels were created around 300 BC and show scenes from the core Mayan mythology, the Popol Vuh. It took investigators three months to uncover the carvings while excavating El Mirador, the biggest ancient Mayan city in the world, the site's head researcher, Richard Hanse...'Apocalypto' now for Mel, Maya and historians
Call it "The Passion of the Maya": Mel Gibson is quietly filming a movie in a Mexican jungle about the collapsed civilization. Given Gibson's cinematic history, experts on the ancient Maya are looking forward to his upcoming epic, "Apocalypto," with a mixture of curiosity and dread. They're pleased that Hollywood will feature a period of world history still little understood but worry that once again a movie may sacrifice historical accuracy for the sake of a good sto...Portal to mythical Mayan underworld found
Mexican archeologists have discovered a maze of stone temples in underground caves, some submerged in water and containing human bones, which ancient Mayans believed was a portal where dead souls entered the underworld. Clad in scuba gear and edging through narrow tunnels, researchers discovered the stone ruins of eleven sacred temples and what could be the remains of human sacrifices at the site in the Yucatan Peninsula. Archeologists say Mayans believed the underground complex of water-filled ...Researchers open cave under Mexican pyramid
Archaeologists are opening a cave sealed for more than 30 years deep beneath a Mexican pyramid to look for clues about the mysterious collapse of one of ancient civilisation"s largest cities. The soaring Teotihuacan stone pyramids, now a major tourist site about an hour outside Mexico City, were discovered by the ancient Aztecs around 1500 AD, not long before the arrival of Spanish explorers to Mexico. But little is known about the civilisation that built the immense city, with its ceremonial ar...Pre-Incan female Wari mummy unearthed in Peru
For over one thousand years the Maya dominated Central America, now scientists believe that their demise may have been severely hastened as the result ofthe deforestation that fuelled their oncemighty civilization."For 1200 years, the Maya dominated Central America. . At their peak around 900 A.D., Maya cities teemed with more than 2,000 people per square mile -- comparableto modern Los Angeles County. " View: Full Article | S...Upright skeleton found in Maya tomb
Archaeologists working in Honduras have discovered an entombed human skeleton of an elite member of the ancient Maya Empire that may help unravel some longstanding mysteries of the vanished culture. The remains, seated in an upright position in an unusual tomb and flanked by shells, pottery, vessels, and jade adornments, suggest a surprisingly diverse culture and complex political system in the influential Maya city of Copán around A.D. 650. Located at the western edge of modern-day Honduras nea...Sensational new Mayan archaeological find at El Mirador in Guatemala
New research on the Maya civilization which is believed to have collapsed due to its overuse of natural resources and slash-and-burn farming may have actually held a great appreciation forthe environment."For decades, the Maya –– andtheir descendents –– have gotten a bad rap from archaeologists, anthropologists, and other scholars who cite the ancient civilization"s agricultural practices for its eventual collapse. . " View: Fu...Possible Aztec offerings found in Mexico
Submitted by Pendekar Timur: Archaeologists diving into a lake in the crater of a snowcapped volcano found wooden scepters shaped like lightning bolts that match 500-year-old descriptions by Spanish priests and conquerors writing about offerings to the Aztec rain god. The lightning bolts — along with cones of copal incense and obsidian knives — were found during scuba-diving expeditions in one of the twin lakes of the extinct Nevado de Toluca volcano, at more than 13,800 feet above sealevel.Scie...
Foldersz is an internal bookmarking system where you can save and organise Hotspotsz content (including this article) into a Folder of your own for later reference.
Paranormal Category List (A-Z)
All our articles are sorted under categories and topics, making it easier to cross reference different subjects. Below are all the different categories the articles are sorted under alphabetically.
77(76/1) 
Stunning Mayan carvings of cosmic monsters
'Apocalypto' now for Mel, Maya and historians
Portal to mythical Mayan underworld found
Researchers open cave under Mexican pyramid
Pre-Incan female Wari mummy unearthed in Peru
What caused the fall of the Maya ?
Sensational new Mayan archaeological find at El Mirador in Guatemala
Research disputes Maya collapse belief
Possible Aztec offerings found in Mexico
