Welcome to the Ancients from History Hit.

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It's the Ancients on History Hit. I'm Tristan Hughes your host and in today's episode,

well I'm recording this intro from the Highlands of Scotland. I am on a holiday for a few days

loving life up here while my favourite places in the world doing some writing. But of course

the Ancients podcast but it continues it goes on and on and on and long may that continue.

Now this weekend it is a bank holiday weekend if you are listening to this in the

United Kingdom and so we are re-releasing a really interesting episode that I recorded more than a

year ago now. We're going back to Mexico to Mesoamerica to the Maya and we're examining

Maya warfare and this whole idea of human sacrifice because our guest today is none other than

Professor Elizabeth Graham from University College London. Liz has done lots of work

analysing examining the evidence for Maya warfare, how it might have taken place, what were the

rules of engagement as it were. And this has led her to conclude that this idea of human sacrifice

with the Maya, well it's flawed and that part of Maya culture, well that may actually also just be

a part of warfare and shouldn't be labelled as sacrifice. Liz explains all and it's really

interesting episode and I really do hope you enjoy so that further ado is Liz.

Now this is a really interesting subject, warfare the ancient Maya and the possibility of

sacrifice but if we focus on warfare first because Liz to start this sort of warfare it seems to

have been right at the heart of ancient Maya society. Well people say that but I don't think it was

any more at the heart of Maya society than it was at the heart of medieval Europe. I mean if you

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