Human sacrifice was a very common ritual in that time and area. But this is not enough to prove to the world that the answer to the mystery of the bog bodies is human sacrifice. However, I hope that the evidence I am about to show you is enough to convince you that human sacrifice is what killed the bog bodies.
It is recorded that human sacrifice was common at least 5000 years ago. Danish farmers, used to deposit their farming utensils in pots along with human sacrifices and place them in peat bogs, much like the bogs the bog bodies were found in. The earliest documentation of human sacrifice is of two teenage girls found in Copenhagen. The girls aged between 16 and 18 were killed around 3500 BC.
Some of the more famous bog bodies that have been found show signs that these people were not executed for breaking the law as they were found with objects that suggest they were of a higher status. A few of these bodies include Huldermose Woman, who was found with her bone comb which could be a symbol of social status, and Oldcroghan man, who was wearing an intricate armband. The fact that these bodies were found with objects that propose they were of a higher status assist in supporting that it was a ritual sacrifice. But this evidence co insides with Julius Caesar’s recollections in his book on the Gallic Wars De Bello Gallico. Caesar
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Archaeologist Miranda Green has said that the injuries on the bog bodies clearly display that the effort and care that has been put into the execution of these bodies supports the hypothesis that they were not executed as a disciplinary measure, but as ritualized sacrifices. Though Miranda Green was not there at the time of the killing, she has studied the wounds on the bodies which have shown a great help in determining what happened to
The heart was then burned and the corpse was pushed down the steps of the Aztec pyramid or temple.... ... middle of paper ... ... The food seemed to be what they grew, they ate.
Another mound that was in Cahokia was called Mound 72. Archaeologists excavated around two hundred and seventy two people that were most likely sacrificed during their time period. Their remains told archaeologist that they ate lots of meat and other nutritious
Julius Caesar elected himself as the dictator of Rome. He became a favorite to many of the people of the lower classes. Unlike many leaders, Caesar valued the poor. Most people agreed with his decisions, but some of the higher classes’ did not. On March 15 44 BCE, now called the Ides of March, a few of Caesars’ closest peers decided to murder Caesar. Marcus Brutus killed Julius Caesar, on March 15.
They provided this ritual for the son god. The most gruesome ritual was, when four priests would take the offering and hold both ankles, and all angles. While they held the person another priest would slice into the mans torso, break apart his ribs, and hold his still beating up like a trophy for all the crowd to see it. It was a way to show the god they were loyal. They then took both hands, and feet from the cold dead body, and sent it down the steps for the community to consume. During that part of the practice the remaining parts were throw into a vat of slit tongue snakes to feast on. On an average 50 thousand main arteries (hearts) were given to the sun god. The priests also purchased babies for the same ritual.
In 1599, when the play was first performed, Queen Elizabeth I had sat on the throne for nearly forty years, enlarging her power at the expense of the aristocracy and the House of Commons. As she was then sixty-six years old, her reign seemed likely to end soon, yet she lacked any heirs (as did Julius Caesar). Many feared that her death would plunge England into the kind of chaos that had plagued England during the fifteenth-century Wars of the Roses. In an age when censorship would have limited direct commentary on these worries, Shakespeare could nevertheless use the story of Caesar to comment on the political situation of his day.
Megan J. Highet, “Body Snatching & Grave Bodies for Science,” History and Anthropology 16 (2005): 415-440
The Polacca Wash in Arizona, contain remains from thirty American Indians which when analyzed show evidence of burns and cut marks that shows resemblance to animals bones that had been stripped of there flesh and cooked (August 1, 1997, p. 74). Earlier generations saw this evidence of marks on the bones as affects from warfare, weathering, ancient rituals for burring, and Scavenging animals (p. 74). Bone weathering stages: cut marks, how long on the surface, longer bones sit on the landscape before buried, the more a bone is exposed the more signs will disappear (Knell, April 5, 2015, Chapter 8). Because of this debating of what caused the marks, Turner as well as other Bio Archaeologists have worked on distinguishing these marks with a stricter criteria of how to prove the markings are caused by other humans practicing cannibalism (p. 74). A lot of the bones in these sites were dumped along with animal bones in dumpsites and not in burial grounds. You can also term these as bonebeds which are classified as mass kills sites that are archaeological sites containing large number of animal bones that are of the same species (Kelly and Thomas, 2013, p.
It was of the most important ceremonies the Huron’s did, generally referred it to “the Kettle.” If the bodies did not sustain violent death they would remove them from their temporary burials in the village’s cemeteries to a great big ossuary. It appeared to held whenever a large village were to move and thus can “no longer possible to protect and care for the bodies buried in the adjacent cemetery.” It is very important to the Huron’s that the bodies were placed in a common grave “because their dead relatives were united in this way.” They invited other friendly tribes to attend this ceremony. The final burials was away to release the souls of the dead, and allow then to go to the land where Iouskeha and Aataentsic lived.
To understand the practice of human sacrifice one must look at the reasons why the culture did such practices. There are three main ways of examining a cultural practice from an anthropological perspective.
Outside observers described the practice as a sign of uncontrollable grief or a pagan custom of self-mutilation . For the Mandan and Hidatsa women, however, self-sacrifice was a deeply spiritual process and enabled them to beseech the spirits on behalf of their relatives. In addition to demonstrating their grief through the physical wounds inflicted by self-sacrifice, the women offered their flesh and fingers to Sun and the Woman Above, two spirits connected to death and the decay of the body. In some cases, the self-sacrifice was also ascribed to other spirits for guidance in restoring rest and peace to relatives who were murdered or died tragically. Virginia Peters’ Women of the Earth Lodge records a story of one such
Animal sacrifices were a common way of honoring the gods. Part of the animal was for the god and the rest was eaten by worshippers. In ancient Greek religion, both men and women could be priests, but only men could perform sacrifices. Women also took part in processions and wove cloth for statues.
In “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar” by William Shakespeare, Caesar’s death is a butchery because it was meant to benefit conspirators, such as Brutus, Cassius, and so on, rather than benefiting Rome. Brutus creates lots of conflict throughout the play to push the idea that Caesar’s death was in fact a “sacrifice”. Brutus tries to convince himself and others that Caesar’s death will be meaningful, honorable, and will be beneficial to Rome. Brutus wishes that he could eliminate Caesar’s tyranny without actually killing him by saying “...could come by Caesar’s spirit/ And not dismember Caesar” (Act 2.1; lines 182-183).
An important practice of the ancient Mesoamerican religion is the practice of sacrifice. This ancient act would involve the death of a human on top of a pyramid and then throw their corps down the stairs. Sacrifice always seems to play part in most ancient religions, it is a way of connecting to a higher life/being or even a way of keeping life going onward. this practice was so important that some people participated in auto-sacrifice in which they would volunteer to sacrifice themselves. Sacrifice in the ancient Mesomaerican religion served as a way to fuel life. In order for life and time to keep moving forward they would preform a blood sacrifice on top of these pyramids or alters.
The voyages recorded the practice of cannibalism, but these records were very ambiguous. For example, Cook saw “the body of a dead woman floating on the water” and found some human bones in the food basket. Cook questioned the natives. They answered, “the bones of a man” and asked Cook, “have you eat the flesh?” Cook then wondered that the South Sea people practiced cannibalism. However, it was not that simple. Anne Salmond said, “in the Society Islands it was the gods rather than people who consumed the spirits of enemies.” It was very possible that Tupaia actually considered cannibalism to be “blasphemous.” Nevertheless, the Europeans failed to understand this complex ideology behind
Due to many different cultures, cannibalism is practiced in various ways for completely different reasons all over the world. Explained by Kat Nickeson, an African anthropologist, there are only two types of cannibalism (excluding survival cannibalism): mortuary or endo-cannibalism and ritualistic or exo-cannibalism. Endo-cannibalism, eating the members from one’s community, was practiced by Native Americans to mourn their dead relatives and to feel as if they continue to live on inside the living. Aztecs, on the other hand, practiced exo-cannibalism: eating human beings outside one’s community fo...