This carved stome jaguar is a ritual carving in a
Maya temple at Chichen Itza, Mexico. In the 9th or 10th century AD body parts of sacrificial victims were placed on this stone, as offerings to the gods. The Maya learned blood rituals from the Mexicans, since there is no evidence of it in early Maya sites. Chichen Itza was a probably a Toltec city that was later overrun by lowland Maya fleeing severe drought. The city was already well past its prime before the European invaders arrived in the 16th century.
