Tossed into the sacred sinkhole Ancient Maya DNA shows male kids were sacrificed in pairs at Chichén Itzá Twins play an auspicious role in Maya mythology, most notably in the Popol Vuh.

The buried boys’ familial connections—especially the presence of identical twins—have led the researchers to a hypothesis: that the kids were victims of human sacrifice.

The Sacred Cenote of Chichén Itzá. According to both Maya and post-Conquest Spanish sources, the Maya deposited valuables and human sacrifices into the cenote as a form of sacrifice to the rain ...