Victims of ancient Mayan sacrifices are boys, not virgin

New archaeologists claim that the victims of the ancient Mayan sacrifice in Mexico - people throwing children into water tanks - could be boys or young men, not virgins like people still think.

The Maya built towering temples and elaborate palaces in the forests of Central America and southern Mexico before the Spanish invaded in the early 1500s. Monks in the city of Chichen Itza, the Yuacatan Peninsula were sacrificing children to gods to pray for rain and fertile land by throwing them into sacred water holes in caves, known as ' cenotes '.

These caves act as water sources for the Mayans and are believed to open the gate to hell.

The archaeologist Guillermo de Anda of Yucatan University collected the bones of the 127 bottom bodies of one of the sacred caves in Chichen Itza and found that 80% of the victims were probably boys aged 3 to 11. The rest may be adult men . Anda has dived into this place to search for precious things and Mayan bones. He said that children are often thrown into the graves of this country to please Chaac Mayan rain god. Some children also suffer from rituals or skin cuts before being sacrificed.

Anda said: 'People used to believe that gods like small things and especially rain gods have four maids in the form of small people. So children are often offered to god as a way of communicating between humans and Chaac. '

Previously archaeologists once believed that young virgins were sacrificed because of the remnants of the ruins, dating back to about 850 years until the Spanish colonists invaded, often wearing jewels.

It is difficult to determine the sex of the skeletons before they are fully matured, but Anda believes that cultural evidence from the Mayan legend can confirm that the victim is indeed male.

Kukulkan pyramid belongs to the ruins of Chichen Itza located on the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico.Victims of ancient Mayan rituals can be boys or young men, not virgins as people often think.(Photo: Victor Ruiz / Reuters)