An illustration showing the ritual sacrifice by strangulation of 53 young women (aged 15 to 25). The remains of the women were found at the Mound 72 burial of an important personage, now referred to as the "Birdman" because of the falcon shaped arrangement of beads around his body.  Mound 72 is a ridgetop mound at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cahokia_Mounds_State_Historic_Site" class="extiw" title="en:Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site">Cahokia</a>, a large <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippian_culture" class="extiw" title="en:Mississippian culture">Mississippian culture</a> mound center located in present day Madison County, Illinois.
Herb Roe, www.chromesun.com
CC BY-SA 3.0
<span class="int-own-work" lang="en">Own work</span>