Interesting Facts About The Mayans In Belize
Unique Burial Habits Of The Mayans
I learned about some of the very interesting burial habits of the Mayans, while exploring some of the ancient sites throughout Belize. They actually created tombs inside of their homes, and then buried generations on top of eachother in the tomb.
The following is a quote from this webpage: "The Maya did not seem to have buried their dead in cemeteries. Instead, burials were made beneath, or adjacent to, their homes. However, buildings that were usually located on the eastern perimeter of residential plazas were built with the sole intention of housing burials. These are called household shrines, and were constructed to accommodate interments of the more eminent inhabitants of these plazas. Residents of the most eminent wealth and status had their burial reserved for temples. The burials of 9 known, and several suspected, Maya kings have been found in temples. In almost every instance of a temple and household shrine burial, some sort of construction, ranging in size from an altar or stair block to an entire temple, was erected as a memorial. Rituals were then conducted on these memorials to commemorate the person buried below. This is apparently a form of ancestor worship or veneration. There are so many buildings and constructions in ceremonial centres associated with interments that, for the Maya at least, monumental architecture was related to the veneration of ancestors. "
