Maya elites left teeth in a Belize Cave Burial site

Researchers led by Keith Prufer of the University of New Mexico recovered more than 200 teeth from a Maya woman's burial in Bats’ub Cave, located in southern Belize.

The burial dates between A.D. 250 and 400. In the grave, the woman's head was replaced with a ceramic bowl containing a jade bead. Genetic analysis by David Reich and Esther Brielle of Harvard University shows the teeth belonged to at least 30 different people.

The team found that more than 20 of these individuals were also buried in elite family tombs at Muklebal Tsul, a site situated 16 miles away across rough terrain. The researchers suggest that Maya elites traveled to the cave, which served as a shrine, to leave teeth from relatives or their own extracted teeth. The study also traced family lines to show that women married into male family lines in Maya society.

Radiocarbon dating indicates that while the woman was buried in the 3rd or 4th century, people continued to leave teeth in the cave for more than 200 years.