DNA of 64 Maya Children in Chichén Itzá Reveals Boy

A landmark ancient DNA study published in Nature sequences 64 skeletons from a subterranean chamber, dismantling the long-standing myth of sacrificed virgins. Swipe to see →

THE HISTORICAL ENIGMA

For well over a century, western popular imagination and tour guide narratives across Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula were captivated by dramatic tales of Maya human sacrifice.

THE ARCHAEOGENETICS REVOLUTION

The definitive resolution to the Chichén Itzá mystery became achievable only through cutting-edge protocols in ancient DNA (aDNA) enrichment and high-throughput sequencing.

THE MYSTERY OF THE SACRED TWINS AND THE POPOL

The most profound biological revelation uncovered by whole-genome sequencing was not merely the exclusively male demographic, but the extraordinary prevalence of close kinship ties among the sacrificed children.

COMPLETE ANATOMY OF FORENSIC AND PALEOGENOMIC

The children consumed a nutritious, agricultural diet centered on limestone-treated maize (the traditional nixtamalization process) complemented by beans, squash, and supplemental local game such as white-tailed deer and ocellated turkey.

GENETIC CONTINUITY AND NATURAL SELECTION

One of the most biologically significant breakthroughs presented in the Nature study was tracing the living genetic continuum linking ancient sacrificed children to modern Maya communities.

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