CHAPTER XI — THE MAYA: BURIAL, SOCIAL SYSTEM, TRADE AND WAR
AS regards the disposal of the dead, we find the same two methods current among the historical Maya as were practised by the Aztec, viz. inhumation and cremation. The first was that most commonly observed among the generality of the inhabitants. Death was supposed to be due to some evil spirit, and the friends and relations of the deceased mourned for several days, by day in silence, at night with lamentations, and the bereaved husband or wife observed a fast. The corpse was enveloped in wrappings, the mouth filled with maize-meal and currency-stones for use in the future life, and burial took place in or behind the house. The house was usually abandoned, through fear of the dead, unless a number of individuals were living there together and consequently felt less nervous of the departed spirit. The personal idols of a man were buried with him, and, in the case of a priest, certain of his religious books also. Upon the latter fact rests the hope that more of the precious manuscripts may yet be discovered. Individuals of high rank were burned, and their ashes deposited in large urns or in cavities in the heads of wooden figures carved for the purpose. In the latter case only a portion of the ashes were so preserved, the rest being buried. It is said that it was customary to remove the heads of princes of the house of Cocom, and to attach the facial portion of the skull, made up with artificial features, to a statue which was kept in a private oratory, while the ashes of high-priests were preserved in figures of pottery. Thus it is evident
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