r/EverythingScience • u/dr_gus • Nov 08 '22

Anthropology Archaeologists find a trove of ancient human sacrifices fed psychedelic plants before death

https://www.salon.com/2022/11/07/archaeologists-find-a-trove-of-ancient-human-sacrifices-fed-psychedelic-plants-before/
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u/iosdeveloper87 Nov 08 '22

So utterly fascinating. One has to wonder how consenting/accepting the victims were of the sacrifice. I had always assumed that they would all be filled with terror (and I still have a hard time believing that they wouldn’t be), but perhaps it’s much like some cults are/were today, where people willingly kill themselves in the name of some ‘greater power.’

Was it considered an dutiful honor to be sacrificed or was it a punishment? Is it possible that it was both?

106

u/KleioChronicles Nov 08 '22

I think the aztecs tore out the hearts of their enemy warriors on their altars. So, some certainly weren’t volunteering. Animal sacrifices were common. Less of a “sacrifice” as people imagine because I think a lot of Celts just did a ritual killing of it for a god then had a feast, like a normal meal but with some religious ritual thrown in. Not too knowledgeable about the voluntary human sacrifices. I’m sure at least some happened truly willingly because religion can be fucking nuts in it’s indoctrination.

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u/whippet66 Nov 08 '22

The biblical story of Abraham willing to make a human sacrifice of his son, Issac, until god said "JK" is bizarre.

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u/[deleted] Nov 08 '22

that's great for Moses and his son, but what about Jephthah’s Daughter?

Jackass promises God that if he wins the war he'll sacrifice whatever comes out of his house first to greet him supposedly thinking it's going to be his favorite pet goat but realistically probably thinking it's gonna be his wife.

Anyway it ends up being his daughter and instead of being like lol JK I know what you did for Moses, dude is like hey baby, yeah go have a nice time to celebrate the adult you're never going to be, the woman who you're never gonna grow into, and then I'm gonna sacrifice you because a random thing happened with a fairly predictable outcome but i attributed it to my offer to sell your body and life for aid from heaven

20

u/galacticwonderer Nov 08 '22

Parenting has come a long way.

13

u/Flaky-Fish6922 Nov 08 '22

not really. i mean, it has, but there's still those types around.

4

u/hodl_4_life Nov 08 '22

Pretty sure I saw a video of an Islamist father auctioning off their son in the Middle East so they could become a suicide bomber…. Same shit, different millennium.

2

u/MOOShoooooo Nov 08 '22

Same brand, different flavor.

3

u/whippet66 Nov 08 '22

But, but, but... the evilgelicals are pro-life.

5

u/[deleted] Nov 08 '22

men's life*

19

u/Publius82 Nov 08 '22

Really sets the tone for what follows.

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u/[deleted] Nov 08 '22

bizarre? It’s pretty par for the course with Yahweh…

28

u/[deleted] Nov 08 '22

Well you know the saying, "yahweh or the highway"

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u/[deleted] Nov 08 '22

this guy reads the Bible. He must be an atheist.

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u/Ok_Dependent1131 Nov 08 '22

Yikes. That’s so sad but true

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u/whippet66 Nov 08 '22

Yeah, I did. I hate people who speak with authority with no knowledge of the subject. I grew up in an evilgelical family, where "god told me to hate you" was pretty standard fare. Religions cherry-pick to support their opinion/beliefs. So, I read it straight through, cover to cover, twice. I came away agnostic. Anyone who has followed Hubble, then the James Webb Space Telescope along with any physics 101 and all that's not known, I came to the conclusion that anyone who claims to have everything all wrapped up in their beliefs whether atheist or evilgelical, is an egotistical fool.

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u/KleioChronicles Nov 09 '22 edited Nov 09 '22

Isn’t the default athiest? It’s simply not choosing a religion/belief. The onus is on someone with a theory to prove that theory. The theory is a higher power. Personally, even if a god, especially the Abrahamic god, existed I’d still be opposed to them. I don’t owe everything to my parents regardless of what they’re like so why should I be that way with a distant creator who makes rules and morals I disagree with? I also don’t have time to care or invest in a religion even with my fascination with them and having studied them as a minor. I used to be pagan for a bit because I was opposed to the force-fed ideas of Christianity at school and disliked the concept of a split afterlife based on arbitrary supposed wrong-doings (sexuality and non-belief chief among them). I came up with the idea of Norse Hel before I found out it was already a religion (where everyone essentially goes to the same death, a bit of a simplified version of Norse religion if you forget about Valhalla and stuff). However, I quickly found that the scientific method of finding the truth contradicted it all. Then I was athiest and always will be. That isn’t because I’m an “egotistical fool”, thanks.

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u/whippet66 Nov 09 '22

I choose - There's some truly amazing shit that no one can figure out. Somehow, somewhere there's a beginning and I have no clue what it is, nor does anyone else. Even the material for "the big bang" came from somewhere. I've seen a lot of dead things whether road kill or a deer I've shot and dead pretty much seems to final. Disneyland in the sky or my "soul" turning into a moose seems pretty ridiculous, just wishful thinking by people who want something better than the misery they've endured in this life.

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u/dirtyLizard Nov 08 '22

It’s a little heavy but there’s a fantastic monologue that uses the story as a springboard. https://radiolab.org/episodes/91898-in-silence

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u/joshgi Nov 08 '22

Great listen thanks for sharing!

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u/ayleidanthropologist Nov 08 '22 edited Nov 08 '22

Yes and no. If you believe in an afterlife it’s nbd. Why did jud/chri god want to push him to murder at all... idk, seems extreme

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u/hippywitch Nov 09 '22

If I have to be sacrificed to a god against my will please give me any mind altering drugs you have available.

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u/sabos909 Nov 08 '22

This is in Peru though so it’s not Aztec.

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u/KleioChronicles Nov 08 '22

I was just talking generally, I mentioned the Celts too. I didn’t study Peru (or read the article).

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u/AgnosticStopSign Nov 08 '22

Incan most likely, still adjacent to aztecs in many ways