oannI MAYA IXDIANS OF YUCATAN AND BRITISH HONDURAS 57 



face is bearded. This god is not infrequently found associated with 

 the serpent. A typical representation of him is seen upon the Santa 

 Rita temple wall;^ here he is depicted standing upon intertwined 

 serpents, holding in his right hand a feather-plumed serpent. This 

 god is represented upon some mccnse burners, and is foimd not infre- 

 quently associated with Cuculcan, 



God K, the god with an elaborate foliated nose, often closely asso- 

 ciated with God B, his face in some cases forming the headdress orna- 

 tnent of the latter god, is unmistakably depicted upon the Santa 

 Rita temple wall.- God P, the Frog god, is found on some small 

 pottery vases, and on a few incense burners. Nothing found m 

 the mounds proves definitely the practice of human sacrifice in this 

 area, but that it existed is almost certain, as Villagutierre refers to it 

 as prevalent among the Itza of Peten at the time of their conquest,'' 

 at the end of the seventeenth century, and Landa mentions it as 

 occurring among the Maya at the time of the coming of the Spaniards.^ 

 Near the headwaters of the Rio Hondo a mound was opened, which 

 contained, in a stone-walled chamber, a number of human skulls 

 unaccompanied by other bones. It is possible that these may have 

 been the remains of sacrificial victims, as it was customary to remove 

 ,the head of the victim after death, which became the perquisite of 

 the priests. 



Human sacrifice among the Maya was probably a somewhat rare 

 event, taking place only on extraordmary special occasions, as in 

 tmies of public calamity — for example, during the prevalence of 

 famine, war, or pestilence — ^when it was felt that a special pro- 

 pitiatory offering to the god was called for. This practice was con- 

 fined to one, or at most to a very small number of victims, never 

 reaching the proportions which it did among the Aztec, by whom it 

 was probably introduced mto Yucatan. The main offering of the 

 Maya to their gods seems to have consisted of an incense composed 

 of copal gum and aromatic susbtances. Landa mentions this as 

 largely employed at the time of the conquest; Villagutierre en- 

 countered it among the Itza at the end of the seventeenth century; 

 and Tozzer found it in use among the Lacandon Indians at the 

 present day. The mcense itself has been found all over this area, 

 as well as great numbers of incense burners. 



1 See Nineteenth Rep. Bur. Amer. Ethn., pi. xxx, fig. 8. 



sibid., pi. XXIX, no. 3. 



3 A la primcra vista encontraron con la Messa de los Sacriflcios, que era vna Piedra muy grande, de mas 

 de dos varas y media de largo, y vara y media de ancho, con doze assientos, que la rodeavan, para los doze 

 Sacerdotes, que executavan el Sacriflcio.— Villagutierre, op. cit., p. 392; ibid., p. 457; ibid., 4S2. 



* Que sin las fiestas en las quales, para la solcmnidad de ellas, se sacriflcavan animales, tambien por alguna 

 tribulacion o necessidad, les mandava el sacrcdote o chilanes sacriflcar personas, y para esto contribuian 

 todos, para que se comprasse esclavos, o algunos de devocion da van sus hijitos los quales eran muy regalados 

 hasta el dia y fiesta de sus pcrsonos, y muy guardados que no se huyessen o ensuziassen de algun carnal 

 peccado, y mientras a ellos Ucvavan de puelilo en pueblo con vailes, ayunavan los sacerdotes y chilanes y 

 otros ofiiciales— Landa, op. cit., p. 164. 



