Bizarre Blue String Found from Teeth of Humans Sacrificed in Belize's Midnight Terror Cave

Blue strings were found from the teeth of humans sacrificed at the Midnight Terror Cave in Belize, according to a new study led by researchers from the United States. Since its discovery in 2006, the Midnight Terror Cave near Springfield village in the Central American country holds clues of over 100 people were offered to the Maya rain god as part of the lost civilization's human sacrifice rituals.

A research team consisting of professors and students from the California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA) conducted a three-year excavation project at the Belize cave. Although finding thousands of bones from 118 sacrificed humans, the team noticed blue fibers were clinging to the teeth of some victims of the Mayans, which intended to use the color blue string since it is significant for the ritual.

Archaeological and anthropological evidence shows that the Maya civilization, one of the most dominant societies in Mesoamerica, engaged in the practice of human sacrifices as part of their culture and religion. While perceived as brutal, the method of killing and design vary depending on human offerings and sacrificial rituals, which were also practiced by the Aztecs, Incas, and other ancient societies.

Maya Human Sacrifice Ritual

(Photo : Photo by LUCA SOLA/AFP via Getty Images)

The Cal State LA study was published in the journal International Journal of Osteoarchaeology on September 20, wherein the researchers discovered the blue fibers in the dental calculus from Maya sacrificial victims. It is part of the said project at the Midnight Terror Cave, which was surveyed from 2008 to 2010, revealing it contained the Maya sacrificial victims.

The victims date back from the Classic Period (250 CE-925 CE), the timeline believed when the rituals took place. In spite of the discovery of 10,000 bones from the cave, study lead author Amy Chan and the team looked into the mouths of the human remains. The blue strings were attached to the teeth of at least two victims.

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Blue Cotton Fibers

The discovery of the blue material from both samples was a surprise since blue is a significant color in Maya ritual, according to Chan, as cited by Science Alert. The so-called unique Maya blue pigments were also found from other sites in Mesoamerica, where it is believed to have been used widely during ancient ceremonies, mainly to paint the bodies of sacrificial victims, according to the study.

However, the Cal State LA team offered an alternative explanation; where it is possible that the blue strings found on the teeth came from cotton clots gagged in their mouths leading up to their sacrifice. There is also evidence of trauma inflicted on the sacrificed people during the time of their death.

The identities of the victims remain unclear. Yet, a previous study by Cristina Verdugo from the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), along with her colleagues, suggests that skeletal data from the Midnight Terror Cave shows that individuals with physical deformities were preferably selected as sacrificial victims.

The 2016 study also asserted the victims would have formed a class of social outcasts. The UCSC research was presented at the 81^st Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology in Orlando, Florida. It was made available online at The Digital Archaeological Record (TDAR).