﻿Vol. 
  2] 
  THE 
  CHIBCHA 
  — 
  KROEBER 
  907 
  

  

  Human 
  sacrifice. 
  — 
  Human 
  victims 
  were 
  variously 
  drawn. 
  Some 
  

   were 
  war 
  captives, 
  some 
  slaves, 
  some 
  children 
  born 
  in 
  good 
  families. 
  

   One 
  practice 
  was 
  to 
  buy 
  small 
  children 
  from 
  the 
  Marbachares, 
  15 
  days 
  

   (or 
  "30 
  leagues") 
  east 
  between 
  the 
  Guape 
  and 
  Guechar 
  Kivers. 
  The 
  

   traders 
  resold 
  them 
  to 
  high 
  chiefs, 
  who 
  might 
  keep 
  as 
  many 
  as 
  three. 
  

   They 
  were 
  reared 
  in 
  the 
  temples; 
  were 
  sacred 
  and 
  might 
  not 
  touch 
  the 
  

   ground, 
  so 
  that 
  they 
  were 
  carried 
  about; 
  ate 
  only 
  out 
  of 
  their 
  own 
  

   dishes; 
  were 
  believed 
  able 
  to 
  converse 
  with 
  the 
  Sun; 
  and 
  when 
  they 
  

   sang, 
  all 
  wept. 
  At 
  early 
  puberty, 
  they 
  were 
  sacrificed, 
  unless 
  they 
  had 
  

   lost 
  their 
  chastity, 
  which 
  rendered 
  them 
  impure. 
  Amid 
  appropriate 
  

   songs, 
  they 
  were 
  cut 
  open, 
  the 
  heart 
  and 
  viscera 
  removed, 
  the 
  head 
  

   severed. 
  This 
  custom 
  presumably 
  obtained 
  at 
  the 
  specific 
  Sun 
  

   temples. 
  

  

  To 
  appease 
  the 
  angry 
  Sun 
  when 
  there 
  was 
  a 
  drought, 
  priests 
  took 
  a 
  

   child 
  to 
  a 
  mountain 
  top 
  that 
  looked 
  eastward, 
  and 
  before 
  sunrise 
  killed 
  

   it 
  with 
  cane 
  knives 
  and 
  anointed 
  the 
  east-facing 
  rocks 
  with 
  its 
  blood 
  . 
  

   The 
  body 
  was 
  left 
  for 
  the 
  Sun 
  to 
  eat, 
  or 
  disposed 
  of 
  in 
  a 
  cave. 
  

  

  A 
  sacrifice 
  with 
  Mexican 
  reminiscences, 
  but 
  whose 
  occasion 
  is 
  not 
  

   known, 
  was 
  to 
  bind 
  a 
  slave 
  into 
  a 
  sort 
  of 
  nest 
  on 
  a 
  mast, 
  where 
  he 
  had 
  

   atlatl 
  darts 
  thrown 
  into 
  him. 
  Priests 
  caught 
  his 
  blood, 
  and 
  later 
  

   buried 
  the 
  corpse 
  in 
  the 
  mountains. 
  

  

  Captive 
  enemy 
  children, 
  especially 
  of 
  the 
  Panche, 
  were 
  sacrificed 
  at 
  

   the 
  temple 
  on 
  return, 
  their 
  blood 
  sprinkled 
  on 
  the 
  posts 
  and 
  floor, 
  their 
  

   bodies 
  exposed 
  on 
  the 
  mountains 
  for 
  the 
  Sun; 
  or 
  they 
  were 
  kept 
  for 
  the 
  

   same 
  fate 
  before 
  a 
  new 
  war 
  party 
  set 
  out. 
  

  

  Kulers 
  firmed 
  their 
  house 
  posts, 
  and 
  the 
  fortunes 
  of 
  the 
  inmates, 
  by 
  

   sacrificing 
  girl 
  children, 
  said 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  given 
  from 
  noble 
  families. 
  

   Each 
  heavy 
  post 
  was 
  pounded 
  up 
  and 
  down 
  on 
  a 
  live 
  child 
  while 
  earth 
  

   was 
  being 
  poured 
  in. 
  A 
  similar 
  practice 
  is 
  reported 
  for 
  the 
  Sugamuxi- 
  

   Iraca 
  temple, 
  but 
  with 
  slaves 
  as 
  material. 
  

  

  Rulers 
  were 
  wont 
  to 
  be 
  buried 
  with 
  several 
  wives 
  and 
  slaves, 
  who 
  had 
  

   been 
  stupified 
  with 
  chicha 
  containing 
  Datura 
  juice. 
  

  

  Of 
  animals 
  sacrificed, 
  we 
  hear 
  only 
  of 
  guacamayo 
  and 
  papagayo 
  par- 
  

   rots 
  — 
  the 
  latter 
  having 
  first 
  been 
  taught 
  to 
  speak 
  — 
  brought 
  up 
  from 
  

   the 
  warm 
  country. 
  Their 
  heads 
  were 
  kept. 
  

  

  MYTHOLOGY 
  

  

  Chibcha 
  mythology 
  is 
  confused, 
  partly 
  because 
  of 
  conflicting 
  or 
  

   misunderstood 
  Spanish 
  renditions, 
  more 
  largely 
  because 
  Chibcha 
  

   culture 
  had 
  not 
  achieved 
  systematic 
  organization 
  in 
  any 
  field. 
  The 
  

   tales 
  are 
  like 
  the 
  rest 
  of 
  the 
  culture 
  in 
  being 
  highly 
  localized. 
  Some 
  

   are 
  cosmological, 
  some 
  ritual; 
  some 
  run 
  into 
  legends 
  of 
  the 
  cacique- 
  

   ships. 
  In 
  these 
  last, 
  recent 
  affairs 
  that 
  might 
  be 
  historical, 
  or 
  are 
  

   pseudohistorical, 
  are 
  interwoven 
  with 
  the 
  events 
  of 
  the 
  creation 
  in 
  

   a 
  manner 
  to 
  illustrate 
  the 
  complete 
  lack 
  of 
  time 
  perspective 
  in 
  the 
  

  

  