The most surprising finds in the kitchen garbage dump were fragmented, burned, and gnawed human bones, recovered among burned animal bones. The human remains included both skulls—broken and burned on the interior—and fragments of long bones. The human bones from the midden are still under study and have not yet been published, so the cause of the gnawing has not been established. Finds of human bone in the kitchen midden appear to be restricted to the Eznab phase of the Early Postclassic Period (ca. 900–1000 CE for Tikal) which preceded the Lowland Maya Collapse. Evidence of human skeletal remains is also found at several other middens at Tikal, all of the same late date, in both the Central Acropolis and the East Plaza.
What does the presence of burned human bone in a midden suggest? It may be evidence of ceremonial human sacrifice or perhaps the execution of prisoners captured in warfare. The deposit could also indicate that cannibalism was practiced at Tikal. Cannibalism has been proposed in other culture areas of the Americas. In the American Southwest, it was thought to be a response to diminished water and food supplies, and attendant intra-population conflict.
