Postsacrificial Management of Human Body: Evidence and Ritual Implications of a Terminal Classic Burial in Lagartero, Chiapas

Abstract

The investigation of human remains from a Classic period deposit at the archaeological site of Lagartero revealed incomplete anatomical segments of a male individual with anthropogenic perimortem and postmortem marks distributed in various areas of the bones. Based on the anthropological evidence in combination with the fact that the skeleton comes from one of the ball court altars, we assume that these are the remains of a sacrificed victim. The corpse also had been heavily processed postmortem, probably for ritual purposes or to be manufactured into bone artifacts.