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Ritual Decapitation in Mesoamerica
Baudiš, Adam ; Kostičová, Zuzana (advisor) ; Křížová, Markéta (referee)
This master's thesis deals with sacrifice by decapitation. Its goal is to describe systematicaly this phenomenon which was widely practiced in the Mesoamerican area. To accomplish this there were firstly introduced the main interpretation lines of human sacrifice. The importance of maize for the Mesoamerican culture was described in the next chapter. The third part of this thesis introduces some Aztec festivities which are connected with ritual decapitation in Sahagún's Historia general. Then this thesis deals with the main aspects of the Mesoamerican ballgame and its connection with the story of the Hero twins from Popol Vuh is introduced here and analyzed. The fourth chapter describes the methods of ritual decapitation. It deals with the question of the fixation method described by Sahagún as "espaldas con espaldas" and the question of the ritual instrument which should have been used in this situation. Then it describes this method in the context of Maya sacrifices. The final part deals with the posthumous dealing with the head and the body of the sacrifices. Big part is given to the problem of tzompantli and the treating of the body. Two main techniques are presented here - skinning and ritual cannibalism. Then it describes the Maya techniques of treating the head which include storing skulls...
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Ritual Decapitation in Mesoamerica
Baudiš, Adam ; Kostičová, Zuzana (advisor) ; Křížová, Markéta (referee)
This master's thesis deals with sacrifice by decapitation. Its goal is to describe systematicaly this phenomenon which was widely practiced in the Mesoamerican area. To accomplish this there were firstly introduced the main interpretation lines of human sacrifice. The importance of maize for the Mesoamerican culture was described in the next chapter. The third part of this thesis introduces some Aztec festivities which are connected with ritual decapitation in Sahagún's Historia general. Then this thesis deals with the main aspects of the Mesoamerican ballgame and its connection with the story of the Hero twins from Popol Vuh is introduced here and analyzed. The fourth chapter describes the methods of ritual decapitation. It deals with the question of the fixation method described by Sahagún as "espaldas con espaldas" and the question of the ritual instrument which should have been used in this situation. Then it describes this method in the context of Maya sacrifices. The final part deals with the posthumous dealing with the head and the body of the sacrifices. Big part is given to the problem of tzompantli and the treating of the body. Two main techniques are presented here - skinning and ritual cannibalism. Then it describes the Maya techniques of treating the head which include storing skulls...
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Ritual Decapitation in Mesoamerica
Baudiš, Adam ; Kostičová, Zuzana (advisor) ; Křížová, Markéta (referee)
This master's thesis deals with sacrifice by decapitation. Its goal is to describe systematicaly this phenomenon which was widely practiced in the Mesoamerican area. To accomplish this there were firstly introduced the main interpretation lines of human sacrifice. The importance of maize for the Mesoamerican culture was described in the next chapter. The third part of this thesis introduces some Aztec festivities which are connected with ritual decapitation in Sahagún's Historia general. Then this thesis deals with the main aspects of the Mesoamerican ballgame and its connection with the story of the Hero twins from Popol Vuh is introduced here and analyzed. The fourth chapter describes the methods of ritual decapitation. It deals with the question of the fixation method described by Sahagún as "espaldas con espaldas" and the question of the ritual instrument which should have been used in this situation. Then it describes this method in the context of Maya sacrifices. The final part deals with the posthumous dealing with the head and the body of the sacrifices. Big part is given to the problem of tzompantli and the treating of the body. Two main techniques are presented here - skinning and ritual cannibalism. Then it describes the Maya techniques of treating the head which include storing skulls...
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Talking Heads: Comparative and Structural Analysis of the Myths of Vital Severed Heads
Sojková, Barbora ; Lyčka, Milan (advisor) ; Chlup, Radek (referee)
The thesis deals with a symbolism of the head and its attachment to knowledge, which will be presented on the Indo-European myths of severed heads with the use of methods of comparative mythology and structural analysis. In the first part of the thesis is introduced general symbolism of the head and its possible transformations in Indo-European mythologies. Nevertheless, the focus of the thesis is in presentation of myths, in which the decapitated head plays the central role. Those myths are formed into three types based on power, which is given to the severed heads. In the second part the thesis deals with three particular myths of the speaking severed heads, namely Greek myth of Orpheus, Welsh story of Bran and Old Norse myth of Mímir, whereas those myths are thoroughly presented, interpreted by using structural analysis, and compared. The results of interpretation are afterwards transposed to the other myths of severed heads and to the general symbolism of a head. The focal point of the text is mainly work with primary mythological sources, even though metodological basis of interpretation is also emphasised.
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