Mayan bone cleaning ritual perpetuated in Mexican town

(1 Nov 2017) Manuel Tun and his family visit their parents' graves every year to honour them with flowers and candles. On Tuesday, one day before Mexico's traditional Day of the Dead, people here clean the bones of their deceased family members as dictated by the ancient tradition of the people of Pomuch, a Mayan community in the southeastern state of Campeche. The people of Pomuch have preserved the tradition and hope that UNESCO will recognise what the rest of Mexico views as a strange custom as an Intangible Heritage of Humanity. In addition to cleaning the bones of their loved ones, it is also the family's job to change their "clothes", which is what they call the blanket embroidered with regional motifs that is put in the box where the remains of the deceased rest. Tun takes the tradition seriously, and every November, he respectfully takes his father's remains out, mops the crypt, and, after carefully cleaning his bones, proceeds to place them back in the ossuary. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...