The chultún appears to represent a distinct ritual practice, one in which male children were specifically chosen.

Why male children specifically?

This question is one that the genetic evidence raises without resolving.

The Popol Vuh, the K’iche’ Maya creation narrative that was written down in the sixteenth century and that incorporates older cosmological traditions, features the Hero Twins — Hunahpu and Xbalanque — as central characters.

The Hero Twins are male.

They descend into the underworld, Xibalba, and ultimately triumph over its lords through a series of cleverness, death, and resurrection.

The narrative structure of the Hero Twin story is one of the most studied elements of Maya mythology.