{"id":2307,"date":"2013-01-08T14:35:17","date_gmt":"2013-01-08T19:35:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/umaine.edu\/hudsonmuseum\/?page_id=2307"},"modified":"2025-06-27T12:29:33","modified_gmt":"2025-06-27T16:29:33","slug":"warfare","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/hudsonmuseum\/maya\/warfare\/","title":{"rendered":"Warfare"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Though long-term warfare was seemingly limited during Classic times, militarism was clearly a very prevalent and important ritualistic activity for the Mayas. The emphasis placed on territorial control gave rise to feuds between rulers of neighboring cities and often led to raids of enemy camps. The need for sacrificial victims or slaves may also have been a reason for unannounced attacks. At some sites (Tikal, Seibal) defense methods such as walls and earthworks to barricade the city have been discovered. During the Classic Period guerrilla warfare techniques included the use of wooden palisades, thorny entanglements, and deadfalls. Warriors were equipped with spears, wooden clubs, flint knives, and shields for hand-to-hand combat. During the Post-classic era, influences from Mexico introduced atlatls (HM\u00a0616,\u00a0618) or spear-throwers to the Maya arsenal. The primary goal of Maya warfare was to capture rather than kill as many of the enemy as possible. Captives of elite status typically became subjects for human sacrifice, while commoners were sentenced to slavery.<\/p>\n\n\n