Bat sacrifice as a significant element in Maya earth rituals

Maya religion has a heavily terrestrial focus, growing out of the Amerindian belief in Earth as an all-powerful, sacred, and animate entity. Features that penetrate Earth , particularly caves, are revered as sacred landmarks because many of their most important deities are believed to reside in caves. Levy-Bruhl noted that sacred landmarks are not single features but complexes that include the animal species that inhabit those places. Thus, bats were important actors in the Maya’s interaction with their deities. Bat remains appear in several specific ritual contexts. In this article, the author presents evidence to suggest that bats may have accompanied the dead in burials. More importantly, a reanalysis of cave data suggests that the sacrifice of bats may have been a frequent occurrence in caves where bats functioned as messengers to the deities.