Mayan sacrifices unlock shocking new discovery using DNA

Ruben Mendoza is an archaeologist and professor at California State University who teaches on the topics of social sciences and global studies. Although he was not part of the latter discovery, he did extensive research on the topic of Mayan sacrifices and wrote a book on the practice of ritual sacrifices in Mesoamerica.

He responded to this archaeological revelation and how it appears to have debunked some long-held assumptions.

“This characterization of Mayan sacrifice was propelled to the forefront through media depictions of young girls (aka virgins) thrown to their deaths at the sacred well,” Mendoza said.

In other words, we assumed that movies and TV shows showed stories based on archaeological finds. However, like many things depicted in entertainment, it seems these depictions were more focused on creating an emotional response in the audience than accuracy.