13 human remains likely sacrificed for Mayan temple found in Mexico

ANKARA (AA) - Archaeologists have found 13 buried sets of human remains thought to have been sacrificed for an ancient Mayan temple in southeastern Mexico.

Eight of the sets of remains, found at a Mayan ruin site known as Moral-Reforma in the Gulf coast state of Tabasco, appear to be young men, Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History said in a statement on Wednesday.

The other five sets are thought to belong to adult males, the statement said.

The skeletal remains may date as far back as 2,000 years, said the institute.

Ceremonial offerings of hundreds of beads, arrowheads, and rings made of shells were with the remains, it added.

The Mayan civilization, one of the greatest in the pre-Colombian Western Hemisphere, stretched across parts of modern-day Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador, and lasted from the time of the ancient Greeks to the 17th century AD.