Editing Child sacrifice (section)

=== Maya culture ===
In [[Maya civilization|Maya]] culture, people believed that supernatural beings had power over their lives and this is one reason that child sacrifice occurred.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Mortuary Landscapes of the Classic Maya|last=Scherer|first=Andrew|publisher=University of Texas Press|year=2012}}</ref> The sacrifices were essentially to satisfy the supernatural beings. This was done through ''k'ex'', which is an exchange or substitution of something.<ref name=":0" /> Through ''k'ex'' infants would substitute more powerful humans.<ref name=":0" /> It was thought that supernatural beings would consume the souls of more powerful humans and infants were substituted in order to prevent that.<ref name=":0" /> Infants are believed to be good offerings because they have a close connection to the spirit world through [[liminality]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Ardren|first=Traci|date=2015|title=Burial and the Social Imaginary of Childhood|journal=Social Identities in the Classic Maya Northern Lowlands: Gender, Age, Memory, and Place|doi=10.7560/768116-005 |s2cid=240099439 }}</ref> It is also believed that parents in Maya culture would offer their children for sacrifice and depictions of this show that this was a very emotional time for the parents, but they would carry through because they thought the child would continue existing.<ref name=":1" /> It is also known that infant sacrifices occurred at certain times. Child sacrifice was preferred when there was a time of crisis and transitional times such as famine and drought.<ref name=":0" />

There is archaeological evidence of infant sacrifice in tombs where the infant has been buried in urns or ceramic vessels. There have also been depictions of child sacrifice in art. Some art includes pottery and [[stele]]s as well as references to infant sacrifice in mythology and art depictions of the mythology.