CEIBAL, GUATEMALA—The International Business Times reports that 42 pieces of obsidian, or volcanic glass, were discovered in ritual contexts at the Maya site of Ceibal, which is located in the Maya lowlands. The artifacts date to the Preclassic period, between 700 and 350 B.C. In one grave, a long obsidian blade and an unshaped piece of obsidian rested with the remains of two sacrificed children, who had been buried facing each other. Another burial contained the remains of five children, all of whom were less than one year old. Four of the children’s bodies had been placed at the points of the compass, with a piece of obsidian buried at the center. The fifth child had been placed at the southwest corner. Caches of obsidian artifacts were also found in cross-shaped holes along the east-west axis of Ceibal’s public plaza. Kazuo Aoyama of Ibaraki University in Japan thinks the obsidian was transported from the highlands along early trade routes to Ceibal. Burying such rare, valuable tools would have been a significant sacrifice, according to Aoyama. For more, go to “Letter From Guatemala: Maya Metropolis.”
