To the Aztecs, death was instrumental in the perpetuation of creation, and gods and humans alike had the responsibility of sacrificing themselves in order to allow life to continue. As described in the myth of creation above, humans were understood to be responsible for the sun's continued revival, as well as for paying the earth for its continued fertility. Blood sacrifice in various forms was conducted. Both humans and animals were sacrificed, depending on the god to be placated and the ceremony being conducted, and priests of some gods were sometimes required to provide their own blood through self-mutilation. It is known that some rituals included acts of cannibalism, with the captor and his family consuming part of the flesh of their sacrificed captives, but it is not known how widespread this practice was.
Human sacrifice and cannibalism
Aztecs
Aztecs | Human sacrifice and cannibalism
Yes, death was instrumental in the perpetuation of creation, and gods and humans alike had the responsibility of sacrificing themselves in order to allow life to continue. Yes. To the Aztecs, death was instrumental in the perpetuation of creation, and gods and humans alike had the responsibility of sacrificing themselves in order to allow life to continue. To them, death was instrumental in the perpetuation of creation, and gods and humans alike had the responsibility of sacrificing themselves in order to allow life to continue.
the culture of the aztec empire was based around which geographic form
user
Central Mexico
assistant
this culture became popular between which time period?
user
Post-classic period from 1300 to 1521
assistant
which language was spoken by the people of that time?
user
Nahuatl language
assistant
what was the reason for the population decline during that time?
user
After the arrival of the Europeans in Mexico and the conquest, indigenous populations declined significantly.
assistant
when did they arrive?
user
1519–1521
assistant
is human sacrificing a part of the culture mentioned above?
user
He would either cut the body in pieces and send them to important people as an offering, or use the pieces for ritual cannibalism. The warrior would thus ascend one step in the hierarchy of the Aztec social classes, a system that rewarded successful warriors.
Human sacrifice in Aztec culture | Huitzilopochtli
To the Aztecs, death was instrumental in the perpetuation of creation, and gods and humans alike had the responsibility of sacrificing themselves in order to allow life to continue. As described in the myth of creation above, humans were understood to be responsible for the sun's continued revival, as well as for paying the earth for its continued fertility. Blood sacrifice in various forms was conducted. Both humans and animals were sacrificed, depending on the god to be placated and the ceremony being conducted, and priests of some gods were sometimes required to provide their own blood through self-mutilation. It is known that some rituals included acts of cannibalism, with the captor and his family consuming part of the flesh of their sacrificed captives, but it is not known how widespread this practice was.
Aztecs | Human sacrifice and cannibalism
The fleshy parts of the arms and legs were cut off and eaten. This was done to the enemies with whom they were at war.
Human sacrifice in Aztec culture | Juan de Grijalva and Juan Díaz
Ortiz also points to the preponderance of human sacrifice during periods of food abundance following harvests compared to periods of food scarcity, the insignificant quantity of human protein available from sacrifices and the fact that aristocrats already had easy access to animal protein. Today many scholars point to ideological explanations of the practice, noting how the public spectacle of sacrificing warriors from conquered states was a major display of political power, supporting the claim of the ruling classes to divine authority. It also served as an important deterrent against rebellion by subjugated polities against the Aztec state, and such deterrents were crucial in order for the loosely organized empire to cohere.
Aztecs | Human sacrifice and cannibalism
It was a theme in the Olmec religion, which thrived between 1200 BCE and 400 BCE and among the Maya. Human sacrifice was a very complex ritual. Every sacrifice had to be meticulously planned from the type of victim to the specific ceremony needed for the god. The sacrificial victims were usually warriors but sometimes slaves, depending upon the god and needed ritual. The higher the rank of the warrior the better he is looked at as a sacrifice. The victim(s) would then take on the persona of the god he was to be sacrificed for. The victim(s) would be housed, fed, and dressed accordingly.
Aztec religion | Human sacrifice
Modern excavations in Mexico City have found evidence of human sacrifice in the form of hundreds of skulls at the site of old temples. Other human remains found in the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan contribute to the evidence of human sacrifice through osteologic information. Indentations in the rib cage of a set of remains reveal the act of accessing the heart through the abdominal cavity, which correctly follows images from the codices in the pictorial representation of sacrifice.
Human sacrifice in Aztec culture | Archaeological evidence of human sacrifice
For example, Diego Duran's informants told him that whoever wore the skin of the victim who had portrayed god Xipe (Our Lord the Flayed One) felt he was wearing a holy relic. He considered himself 'divine'.
Human sacrifice in Aztec culture | Religious explanation
This process could last up to a year. When the sacrificial day arrived, the victim(s) would participate in the specific ceremonies of the god. These ceremonies were used to exhaust the victim so that he would not struggle during the ceremony. Then five priests, known as the Tlenamacac, performed the sacrifice usually at the top of a pyramid. The victim would be laid upon the table, held down and subsequently have his heart cut out.
Aztec religion | Human sacrifice
Sacrifices were ritualistic and symbolic acts accompanying huge feasts and festivals, and were a way to properly honor the gods. Victims usually died in the "center stage" amid the splendor of dancing troupes, percussion orchestras, elaborate costumes and decorations, carpets of flowers, crowds of thousands of commoners, and all the assembled elite. Aztec texts frequently refer to human sacrifice as "neteotoquiliztli", "the desire to be regarded as a god". These members of the society became an "ixiptla"—that is, a god's representative, image or idol. For each festival, at least one of the victims took on the paraphernalia, habits, and attributes of the god or goddess whom they were dying to honor or appease.
Human sacrifice in Aztec culture | Religious explanation
When the Aztecs sacrificed people to Huitzilopochtli (the god with warlike aspects) the victim would be placed on a sacrificial stone. The priest would then cut through the abdomen with an obsidian or flint blade. The heart would be torn out still beating and held towards the sky in honor to the Sun-God. The body would then be pushed down the pyramid where the Coyolxauhqui stone could be found. The Coyolxauhqui Stone recreates the story of Coyolxauhqui, Huitzilopochtli's sister who was dismembered at the base of a mountain, just as the sacrificial victims were. The body would be carried away and either cremated or given to the warrior responsible for the capture of the victim.
Human sacrifice in Aztec culture | Huitzilopochtli
Motolinía and Sahagún reported that the Aztecs believed that if they did not placate Huehueteotl, a plague of fire would strike their city. The sacrifice was considered an offering to the deity.
Human sacrifice in Aztec culture | Huehueteotl/Xiuhtecuhtli
Prior to death and dismemberment the victim's skin would be removed and worn by individuals who traveled throughout the city fighting battles and collecting gifts from the citizens.
Human sacrifice in Aztec culture | Xipe Totec
Human sacrifice was in this sense the highest level of an entire panoply of offerings through which the Aztecs sought to repay their debt to the gods. Both Sahagún and Toribio de Benavente (also called "Motolinía") observed that the Aztecs gladly parted with everything. Even the "stage" for human sacrifice, the massive temple-pyramids, was an offering mound: crammed with the land's finest art, treasure and victims, then buried underneath for the deities.
Human sacrifice in Aztec culture | Role of sacrifice in Aztec culture
Ingham, John M. "Human Sacrifice at Tenochtitln." Society for Comparative Studies in Society and History 26 (1984): 379-400.
Human sacrifice in Aztec culture | Bibliography
These cultures also notably sacrificed elements of their own population to the gods. In 1521, Spanish explorers such as Hernán Cortés conquered the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan and made observations of and wrote reports about the practice of human sacrifice. Bernal Díaz del Castillo, who participated in the Cortés expedition, made frequent mention of human sacrifice in his memoir "True History of the Conquest of New Spain". There are a number of second-hand accounts of human sacrifices written by Spanish friars, that relate to the testimonies of native eyewitnesses. The literary accounts have been supported by archeological research. Since the late 1970s, excavations of the offerings in the Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan, and other archaeological sites, have provided physical evidence of human sacrifice among the Mesoamerican peoples.
Human sacrifice in Aztec culture | Introduction
In the Florentine Codex, also known as "General History of the Things of New Spain", Sahagún wrote:
Human sacrifice in Aztec culture | Tlaloc
While human sacrifice was practiced throughout Mesoamerica, the Aztecs, according to their own accounts, brought this practice to an unprecedented level. For example, for the reconsecration of the Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan in 1487, the Aztecs reported that they sacrificed 80,400 prisoners over the course of four days, reportedly by Ahuitzotl, the Great Speaker himself. This number, however, is not universally accepted and may have been exaggerated. The scale of Aztec human sacrifice has provoked many scholars to consider what may have been the driving factor behind this aspect of Aztec religion. In the 1970s, Michael Harner and Marvin Harris argued that the motivation behind human sacrifice among the Aztecs was actually the cannibalization of the sacrificial victims, depicted for example in "Codex Magliabechiano".
Aztecs | Human sacrifice and cannibalism
A wide variety of interpretations of the Aztec practice of human sacrifice have been proposed by modern scholars. Many scholars now believe that Aztec human sacrifice was performed in honor of the gods. Most scholars of Pre-Columbian civilization see human sacrifice among the Aztecs as a part of the long cultural tradition of human sacrifice in Mesoamerica.
Human sacrifice in Aztec culture | Introduction
Human sacrifice was common in many parts of Mesoamerica, so the rite was nothing new to the Aztecs when they arrived at the Valley of Mexico, nor was it something unique to pre-Columbian Mexico. Other Mesoamerican cultures, such as the Purépechas and Toltecs, performed sacrifices as well and from archaeological evidence, it probably existed since the time of the Olmecs (1200–400 BC), and perhaps even throughout the early farming cultures of the region. However, the extent of human sacrifice is unknown among several Mesoamerican civilizations, such as Teotihuacán. What distinguished Maya and Aztec human sacrifice was the way in which it was embedded in everyday life and believed to be a necessity.
Human sacrifice in Aztec culture | Introduction
Through this performance, it was said that the divinity had been given 'human form'—that the god now had an "ixitli" (face). Duran says such victims were 'worshipped ... as the deity' or 'as though they had been gods'. Even whilst still alive, "ixiptla" victims were honored, hallowed and addressed very highly. Particularly the young man who was indoctrinated for a year to submit himself to Tezcatlipoca's temple was the Aztec equivalent of a celebrity, being greatly revered and adored to the point of people "kissing the ground" when he passed by. Posthumously, their remains were treated as actual relics of the gods which explains why victims' skulls, bones and skin were often painted, bleached, stored and displayed, or else used as ritual masks and oracles.
Human sacrifice in Aztec culture | Religious explanation
It is clear from his description of their fear and resentment toward the Mexicas that, in their opinion, it was no honor to surrender their kinsmen to be sacrificed by them.
Human sacrifice in Aztec culture | Bernal Díaz
Hernán Cortés describes an event in his "Letters":
Human sacrifice in pre-Columbian cultures | Aztec culture
Human sacrifice rituals were performed at the appropriate times each month with the appropriate number of living bodies, and other goods. These individuals were previously chosen to be sacrificed, as was the case for people embodying the gods themselves, or members of an enemy party which had been captured and prepared to be sacrificed. Even enemies of the Aztecs understood their roles as sacrifices to the gods since many also practiced the same type of religion. For many rites, the victims were expected to bless children, greet and cheer passers-by, hear people's petitions to the gods, visit people in their homes, give discourses and lead sacred songs, processions and dances.
Human sacrifice in Aztec culture | Sacrifice Ritual
A great deal of cosmological thought seems to have underlain each of the Aztec sacrificial rites. Most of the sacrificial rituals took more than two people to perform. In the usual procedure of the ritual, the sacrifice would be taken to the top of the temple. The sacrifice would then be laid on a stone slab, a "chacmool", by four priests, and his/her abdomen would be sliced open by a fifth priest with a ceremonial knife made of flint. The most common form of human sacrifice was heart-extraction. The Aztec believed that the heart ("tona") was both the seat of the individual and a fragment of the Sun's heat ("istli").
Human sacrifice in Aztec culture | Sacrifice Ritual
The "chacmool" was a very important religious tool used during sacrifices. The cut was made in the abdomen and went through the diaphragm. The priest would grab the heart which would be placed in a bowl held by a statue of the honored god, and the body would then be thrown down the temple's stairs. The body would land on a terrace at the base of the pyramid called an "apetlatl". Before and during the killing, priests and audience, gathered in the plaza below, stabbed, pierced and bled themselves as auto-sacrifice. Hymns, whistles, spectacular costumed dances and percussive music marked different phases of the rite.
Human sacrifice in Aztec culture | Sacrifice Ritual
Ortiz qualifies Harner's sources as Spanish propaganda, and states the need to critique primary sources of interactions with the Aztecs. By dehumanizing and villainizing Aztec culture, the Spaniards were able to justify their own actions for conquest. Therefore, encounters with sacrificial cannibalism were said to be grossly exaggerated and Harner used the sources to aid his argument. However, it is unlikely that the Spanish conquerors would need to invent additional cannibalism to justify their actions given that human sacrifice already existed, as attested by archeological evidence. Overall, ecological factors alone are not sufficient to account for human sacrifice and, more recently, it is posited that religious beliefs have a significant effect on motivation.
Human sacrifice in Aztec culture | Ecological explanation
Likewise, most of the earliest accounts talk of prisoners of war of diverse social status, and concur that virtually all child sacrifices were locals of noble lineage, offered by their own parents. That women and children were not excluded from potential victims is attested by a tzompantli found in 2015 at Templo Mayor in the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan.
Human sacrifice in Aztec culture | Scope of Human Sacrifice In Aztec Culture
Harris, author of "Cannibals and Kings", has propagated the claim, originally proposed by Harner, that the flesh of the victims was a part of an aristocratic diet as a reward, since the Aztec diet was lacking in proteins. However, Bernard Ortiz Montellano offers a counter argument and points out the faults of Harner's sources. First off, Ortiz challenges Harner's claim of the Aztecs needing to compete with other carnivorous mammals for protein packed food. Many other types of foods were available to the Aztecs, including meat from salamanders, fowls, armadillos, and weasels. These resources were also plenty available due to their need to subsist in Lake Texcoco, the place where the Aztecs had created their home.
Human sacrifice in Aztec culture | Ecological explanation
There is universal agreement that some Mesoamerican people practiced human sacrifice and cannibalism, but there is no scholarly consensus as to its extent. At one extreme, anthropologist Marvin Harris, author of "Cannibals and Kings", has suggested that the flesh of the victims was a part of an aristocratic diet as a reward, since the Aztec diet was lacking in proteins. According to Harris, the Aztec economy would not support feeding slaves (the captured in war) and the columns of prisoners were "marching meat". Bernard R. Ortiz de Montellano has proposed that Aztec cannibalism coincided with times of harvest and should be thought of as more of a Thanksgiving.
Cannibalism in pre-Columbian America | Introduction
Different anthropological or other sources have attempted to explain a possible ecological explanation of the need for human sacrifices to supplement overall Aztec diet. Harner's main argument lies within his claim that cannibalism is needed to assist the diet of the Aztecs. He claimed that very high population pressure and an emphasis on maize agriculture, without domesticated herbivores, led to a deficiency of essential amino acids amongst the Aztecs. As population increased and the amount of available game decreased, the Aztecs had to compete with other carnivorous mammals, such as dogs, to find food. Harner believes that although intensified agricultural practices provided the Aztec society a surplus of carbohydrates, they did not provide sufficient nutritional balance; for this reason, the cannibalistic consumption of sacrificed humans was needed to supply an appropriate amount of protein per individual.
Human sacrifice in Aztec culture | Ecological explanation
Human sacrifice was practiced on a grand scale throughout the Aztec empire, although the exact figures were unknown. At Tenochtitlán, the principal Aztec city, "between 10,000 and 80,400 people" were sacrificed over the course of four days for the dedication of the Great Pyramid in 1487, according to Ross Hassig . Excavations of the offerings in the main temple has provided some insight in the process, but the dozens of remains excavated are far short of the thousands of sacrifices recorded by eyewitnesses and other historical accounts. For millennia, the practice of human sacrifice was widespread in Mesoamerican and South American cultures.
Aztec religion | Human sacrifice
In addition, even if no herbivores were available to eat, the nutrients needed were found in the leaves and seeds of amaranth which also provided protein. Lastly, the Aztecs had a highly structured system in which "chinampas" and tribute provided a surplus of materials and therefore ensured the Aztec were able to meet their caloric needs. Ortiz's argument helps to frame and evaluate the gaps within Harner's argument. Part of the issue with Harner's reasoning for Aztec use of cannibalism was the lack of reliability of his sources. Harner recognized the numbers he used may be contradicting or conflicting with other sources, yet he continued to use these sources and claimed them as reliable.
Human sacrifice in Aztec culture | Ecological explanation
In every case, the 42 children, mostly males aged around six, were suffering from serious cavities, abscesses or bone infections that would have been painful enough to make them cry continually. Tlaloc required the tears of the young so their tears would wet the earth. As a result, if children did not cry, the priests would sometimes tear off the children's nails before the ritual sacrifice. Fernando de Alva Cortés Ixtlilxochitl, an Aztec descendant and the author of the Codex Ixtlilxochitl, claimed that one in five children of the Mexica subjects was killed annually. These high figures have not been confirmed by historians.
Human sacrifice in pre-Columbian cultures | Aztec culture
This shows how important capturing enemies for sacrifice was as it was the singular way of achieving some type of "nobility". Within the system of organization based on hierarchy, there was also a social expectation contributing to the status of an individual at the time of their sacrifice. An individual was punished if unable to confidently address their own sacrifice, i.e. the person acted cowardly beforehand instead of brave. Then, instead of being sacrificed honorably, their lowly death paralleled their new lowly status. Where one's body traveled in the afterlife also depended on the type of death awarded to the individual.
Human sacrifice in Aztec culture | Political explanation
Harner claimed that very high population pressure and an emphasis on maize agriculture, without domesticated herbivores, led to a deficiency of essential amino acids among the Aztecs. While there is universal agreement that the Aztecs practiced sacrifice, there is a lack of scholarly consensus as to whether cannibalism was widespread. Harris, author of "Cannibals and Kings" (1977), has propagated the claim, originally proposed by Harner, that the flesh of the victims was a part of an aristocratic diet as a reward, since the Aztec diet was lacking in proteins. These claims have been refuted by Bernard Ortíz Montellano who, in his studies of Aztec health, diet, and medicine, demonstrates that while the Aztec diet was low in animal proteins, it was rich in vegetable proteins.
Aztecs | Human sacrifice and cannibalism
After sacrifice, the victim's body was probably hurled down the front stairway of the temple where his head would be severed to be placed on a skull rack that was located in front of the temple. In the Kʼicheʼ epic Popol Vuh, the god Tohil demands his right to suckle from his people, as an infant to its mother, but Tohil suckled upon human blood from the chest of the sacrificial victim. The "Popol Vuh" also describes how the Hero Twin Hunahpu was sacrificed with both the removal of his heart and his head. Human sacrifice was probably also performed to the Kʼicheʼ mountain god Jacawitz.
Human sacrifice in Maya culture | Postclassic period (900–1524)
In the Aztec tradition, the Fifth World is the last one and after this one the earth will not be recreated. This is why the Aztecs practised human sacrifice. The gods would only keep the sun alive as long as the Aztecs continued providing them with blood. Their worldview held a deep sense of indebtedness. Blood sacrifice was an often-used form of or debt-payment. Franciscan Friar wrote in his ethnography of Mesoamerica that the victim was someone who "gave his service.”
Fifth World (mythology) | Human sacrifice
In every case, the 42 children, mostly males aged around six, were suffering from serious cavities, abscesses or bone infections that would have been painful enough to make them cry continually. Tlaloc required the tears of the young so their tears would wet the earth. As a result, if children did not cry, the priests would sometimes tear off the children's nails before the ritual sacrifice.
Child sacrifice | Aztec culture
The actual removal of the heart would then be continued by cutting any attaching ligaments with a bifacial tool. Finally, offering of the heart would take place with either special positioning or through burning. At this time, blood would also be collected from the victim. The ritual will end with mutilation of the body, usually through dismemberment, or burned. They would then dispose of the body or reutilize it for other purposes . During the Postclassic period (c. 900 – 1524), the most common form of human sacrifice was heart extraction, influenced by the method used by the Aztecs in the Valley of Mexico; this usually took place in the courtyard of a temple, or upon the summit of the pyramid-temple.
Human sacrifice in Maya culture | Heart removal
Sacrifice was a common theme in the Aztec culture. In the Aztec "Legend of the Five Suns", all the gods sacrificed themselves so that mankind could live. Some years after the Spanish conquest of Mexico, a body of the Franciscans confronted the remaining Aztec priesthood and demanded, under threat of death, that they desist from this traditional practice. The Aztec priests defended themselves as follows: What the Aztec priests were referring to was a central Mesoamerican belief: that a great, continuing sacrifice of the gods sustains the Universe. A strong sense of indebtedness was connected with this worldview. Indeed, "nextlahualli" (debt-payment) was a commonly used metaphor for human sacrifice, and, as Bernardino de Sahagún reported, it was said that the victim was someone who "gave his service".
Human sacrifice in Aztec culture | Role of sacrifice in Aztec culture
The cycle of fifty-two years was central to Mesoamerican cultures. The Nahua's religious beliefs were based on a great fear that the universe would collapse after each cycle if the gods were not strong enough. Every fifty-two years a special New Fire ceremony was performed. All fires were extinguished and at midnight a human sacrifice was made. The Aztecs then waited for the dawn. If the Sun appeared it meant that the sacrifices for this cycle had been enough. A fire was ignited on the body of a victim, and this new fire was taken to every house, city and town.
Human sacrifice in Aztec culture | The 52-year cycle
Visual accounts of Aztec sacrificial practice are principally found in codices and some Aztec statuary. Many visual renderings in the codices were created for Spanish patrons, and thus may reflect European preoccupations and prejudices. Produced during the 16th century, the most prominent codices include the Ríos, Tudela, Telleriano-Remensis, Magliabechiano, and Sahagún’s Florentine. A contrast is offered in the few Aztec statues that depict sacrificial victims, which show an Aztec understanding of sacrifice. Rather than showing a preoccupation with debt repayment, they emphasize the mythological narratives that resulted in human sacrifices, and often underscore the political legitimacy of the Aztec state.
Human sacrifice in Aztec culture | Primary sources
In Yucatán, shipwrecked Spaniard Jerónimo de Aguilar, who later became a translator for Hernán Cortés, reported to have witnessed fellow Spaniards sacrificed and eaten, but escaped from captivity where he was being fattened for sacrifice himself. In the Florentine Codex (1576) compiled by Franciscan Bernardino de Sahagún from information provided by indigenous eyewitnesses has questionable evidence of Mexica (Aztec) cannibalism. Franciscan friar Diego de Landa reported on Yucatán instances. In early Brazil, there is reportage of cannibalism among the Tupinamba. It is recorded about the natives of the captaincy of Sergipe in Brazil: "They eat human flesh when they can get it, and if a woman miscarries devour the abortive immediately.
Human cannibalism | Early modern and colonial era
Bernal Díaz corroborates Juan Díaz's history: In "The Conquest of New Spain" Díaz recounted that, after landing on the coast, they came across a temple dedicated to Tezcatlipoca. "That day they had sacrificed two boys, cutting open their chests and offering their blood and hearts to that accursed idol". Díaz narrates several more sacrificial descriptions on the later Cortés expedition. Arriving at Cholula, they find "cages of stout wooden bars ... full of men and boys who were being fattened for the sacrifice at which their flesh would be eaten". When the conquistadors reached Tenochtitlan, Díaz described the sacrifices at the Great Pyramid: According to Bernal Díaz, the chiefs of the surrounding towns, for example Cempoala, would complain on numerous occasions to Cortés about the perennial need to supply the Aztecs with victims for human sacrifice.
Human sacrifice in Aztec culture | Bernal Díaz
However, as the conquerors often used such accounts to portray the Aztecs in a negative light, and thus justifying their colonization, the accuracy of these sources have been called into question. Martyr d'Anghiera, Lopez de Gomara, Oviedo y Valdes and Illescas, while not in Mesoamerica, wrote their accounts based on interviews with the participants. Bartolomé de Las Casas and Sahagún arrived later to New Spain but had access to direct testimony, especially of the indigenous people.
Human sacrifice in Aztec culture | Primary sources
In 2007, archaeologists announced that they had analyzed the remains of 24 children, aged 5 to 15, found buried together with a figurine of Tlaloc. The children, found near the ancient ruins of the Toltec capital of Tula, had been decapitated. The remains have been dated to AD 950 to 1150. "To try and explain why there are 24 bodies grouped in the same place, well, the only way is to think that there was a human sacrifice", archaeologist Luis Gamboa said.
Human sacrifice in pre-Columbian cultures | Toltec culture
A pentatonic flute crafted from a child's femur was recovered from one of the temples and is also indicative of human sacrifice. A sacrificial flint knife was also recovered from Structure 3, and a circular altar at the site is very similar to those used for so-called "gladiatorial sacrifice" by the Aztecs and it may have served this purpose. The "Annals of the Kaqchikels" record that around 1491 the rulers of Iximche captured the rulers of the Kʼicheʼ, as well as the image of Tohil. The captured king and his co-ruler were sacrificed together with the son and grandson of the king, other noblemen and high-ranking warriors.
Human sacrifice in Maya culture | Postclassic period (900–1524)
Human sacrifice was practiced by many ancient cultures. People would be ritually killed in a manner that was supposed to please or appease a god or spirit. Some occasions for human sacrifice found in multiple cultures on multiple continents include: Human sacrifice was practiced by various Pre-Columbian civilizations of Mesoamerica. The Aztec in particular are known for the practice of human sacrifice. Current estimates of Aztec sacrifice are between a couple thousand and twenty thousand per year. Some of these sacrifices were to help the sun rise, some to help the rains come, and some to dedicate the expansions of the great Templo Mayor, located in the heart of Tenochtitlán (the capital of the Aztec Empire).
Sacrifice | Human sacrifice
Juan de Grijalva was one of the first Spaniards to explore Mexico and traveled on his expedition in 1518 with Juan Díaz. Diaz wrote "Itinerario de Grijalva" before 1520, in which he describes the aftermath of a sacrifice on an island off the coast of Veracruz. He said,When he reached said tower the Captain asked him why such deeds were committed there and the Indian answered that it was done as a kind of sacrifice and gave to understand that the victims were beheaded on the wide stone; that the blood was poured into the vase and that the heart was taken out of the breast and burnt and offered to the said idol.
Human sacrifice in Aztec culture | Juan de Grijalva and Juan Díaz
AD 250–900) right through to the final stages of the Spanish conquest in the 17th century. Human sacrifice is depicted in Classic Maya art, is mentioned in Classic period hieroglyphic texts and has been verified archaeologically by analysis of skeletal remains from the Classic and Postclassic (c. AD 900–1524) periods. Additionally, human sacrifice is described in a number of late Maya and early Spanish colonial texts, including the "Madrid Codex", the Kʼicheʼ epic "Popol Vuh", the Kʼicheʼ "Título de Totonicapán", the Kʼicheʼ language "Rabinal Achi", the "Annals of the Kaqchikels", the Yucatec "Songs of Dzitbalche" and Diego de Landa's "Relación de las cosas de Yucatán".
Human sacrifice in Maya culture | Introduction
Every Aztec warrior would have to provide at least one prisoner for sacrifice. All the male population was trained to be warriors, but only the few who succeeded in providing captives could become full-time members of the warrior elite. Accounts also state that several young warriors could unite to capture a single prisoner, which suggests that capturing prisoners for sacrifice was challenging. There is still much debate as to what social groups constituted the usual victims of these sacrifices. It is often assumed that all victims were 'disposable' commoners or foreigners. However, slaves – a major source of victims – were not a permanent class but rather persons from any level of Aztec society who had fallen into debt or committed some crime.
Human sacrifice in Aztec culture | Scope of Human Sacrifice In Aztec Culture
Throughout a year, this youth would be dressed as Tezcatlipoca and treated as a living incarnation of the god. The youth would represent Tezcatlipoca on earth; he would get four beautiful women as his companions until he was killed. In the meantime he walked through the streets of Tenochtitlan playing a flute. On the day of the sacrifice, a feast would be held in Tezcatlipoca's honor. The young man would climb the pyramid, break his flute and surrender his body to the priests. Sahagún compared it to the Christian Easter.
Human sacrifice in Aztec culture | Tezcatlipoca
The Mexica of the Aztec period are perhaps the most widely studied of the ancient Mesoamerican peoples. While most pre-Columbian historians believe that ritual cannibalism took place in the context of human sacrifices, they do not support Harris' thesis that human flesh was ever a significant portion of the Aztec diet. Michael D. Coe states that while "it is incontrovertible that some of these victims ended up by being eaten ritually […], the practice was more like a form of communion than a cannibal feast". Documentation of Aztec cannibalism mainly dates from the period after the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire (1519-1521): In "The Man-Eating Myth", Arens writes, "The gradual transformation of what little evidence is available for Aztec cannibalism is also an indication of the continual need to legitimize the Conquest".
Cannibalism in pre-Columbian America | Aztec cannibalism
Some post-conquest sources report that at the re-consecration of Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan in 1487, the Aztecs sacrificed about 80,400 prisoners over the course of four days. This number is considered by Ross Hassig, author of "Aztec Warfare", to be an exaggeration. Hassig states "between 10,000 and 80,400 persons" were sacrificed in the ceremony. The higher estimate would average 15 sacrifices per minute during the four-day consecration. Four tables were arranged at the top so that the victims could be jettisoned down the sides of the temple. Nonetheless, according to Codex Telleriano-Remensis, old Aztecs who talked with the missionaries told about a much lower figure for the reconsecration of the temple, approximately 4,000 victims in total.
Human sacrifice in Aztec culture | Scope of Human Sacrifice In Aztec Culture
Human sacrifice is depicted in Late Classic artwork and sometimes involved torture; sacrifice was generally via decapitation. At times the sacrificial victim was dressed as a deer. The intended sacrifice may have been publicly displayed and paraded before the act of sacrifice itself. Images of human sacrifice were often sculpted into the steps of Maya architecture and such stairways may have been the site of periodic sacrifice. Ritual decapitation is well attested from Maya hieroglyphic texts throughout the Classic period. Evidence of mass sacrifice during the Classic period has not been recovered archaeologically. Archaeological excavations at a number of sites, including Palenque, Calakmul and Becan, have uncovered skeletons that bear marks to the vertebrae and ribs consistent with heart extraction at the time of death using a long-bladed flint knife.
Human sacrifice in Maya culture | Classic period (250–900)
Archeologists have found remains of 42 children. It is alleged that these remains were sacrificed to Tlaloc (and a few to Ehécatl, Quetzalcoatl and Huitzilopochtli) in the offerings of the Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan by the Aztecs of pre-Columbian Mexico. Human sacrifice was an everyday activity in Tenochtitlan and women and children were not exempt. According to Bernardino de Sahagún, the Aztecs believed that, if sacrifices were not given to Tlaloc, the rain would not come and their crops would not grow. Archaeologists have found the remains of 42 children sacrificed to Tlaloc (and a few to Ehecátl Quetzalcóatl) in the offerings of the Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan.
Child sacrifice | Aztec culture
The Aztecs were particularly noted for practicing human sacrifice on a large scale; an offering to Huitzilopochtli would be made to restore the blood he lost, as the sun was engaged in a daily battle. Human sacrifices would prevent the end of the world that could happen on each cycle of 52 years. In the 1487 re-consecration of the Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan some estimate that 80,400 prisoners were sacrificed though numbers are difficult to quantify as all obtainable Aztec texts were destroyed by Christian missionaries during the period 1528–1548. The Aztec, also known as Mexica, periodically sacrificed children as it was believed that the rain god, Tlāloc, required the tears of children.
Human sacrifice | Aztecs
Xiuhtecuhtli is the god of fire and heat and in many cases is considered to be an aspect of Huehueteotl, the "Old God" and another fire deity. Both Xiuhtecuhtli and Huehueteotl were worshipped during the festival of "Izcalli." For ten days preceding the festival various animals would be captured by the Aztecs, to be thrown in the hearth on the night of celebration. To appease Huehueteotl, the fire god and a senior deity, the Aztecs had a ceremony where they prepared a large feast, at the end of which they would burn captives; before they died they would be taken from the fire and their hearts would be cut out.
Human sacrifice in Aztec culture | Huehueteotl/Xiuhtecuhtli
His corpse was then decapitated; the natives carried off his head as a trophy, which was never recovered by the Spanish. In the early 1620s a Spanish party received permission to visit the still independent Itza capital at Nojpetén, headed by friar Diego Delgado who was accompanied by 13 Spanish soldiers and 80 Christianised Maya guides from Tipu, now in Belize. The party was seized when they arrived at Nojpetén and sacrificed with their hearts cut out. They were then decapitated and their heads displayed on stakes around the city; Delgado was dismembered. The main Spanish party was ambushed at Sakalum in January 1624 and slaughtered.
Human sacrifice in Maya culture | Human sacrifice during the Spanish conquest (1511–1697)
Aztec religion is one of the most widely documented pre-Hispanic cultures. Diego Durán in the "Book of the Gods and Rites" wrote about the religious practices devoted to the water gods, Tlaloc and Chalchiuhtlicue, and a very important part of their annual ritual included the sacrifice of infants and young children. According to Bernardino de Sahagún, the Aztecs believed that, if sacrifices were not given to Tlaloc, the rain would not come and their crops would not grow. Archaeologists have found the remains of 42 children sacrificed to Tlaloc (and a few to Ehecátl Quetzalcóatl) in the offerings of the Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan.
Human sacrifice in pre-Columbian cultures | Aztec culture
Those who died while being sacrificed or while battling in war went to the second-highest heaven, while those who died of illness were the lowest in the hierarchy. Those going through the lowest hierarchy of death were required to undergo numerous torturous trials and journeys, only to culminate in a somber underworld. Additionally, death during Flower Wars was considered much more noble than death during regular military endeavors.
Human sacrifice in Aztec culture | Political explanation
The findings at Zultepec, plus evidence in ancient documents (Aztec codices depicting ritualistic displays of human sacrifice), show that the abandoned Spanish were captured and offered to the Aztec gods, along with natives from local tribes who were helping the Spanish against their Aztec masters. The Aztecs practiced human sacrifice and the documentary narrates how Cortés wrote about how the victim's chest was opened while they were alive and their still beating heart offered as sacrifices. Cannibalism followed.
Aztec Massacre | Content
When death occurred from battling in a Flower War, it was considered much more noble than dying in a regular military battle. Additionally, death in the Flower Wars contained religious importance as those who died were thought to live in heaven with the war god, Huitzilopochtli.
Human sacrifice in Aztec culture | Flower Wars
Human sacrifice is also mentioned in the Kʼicheʼ document "Título de Totonicapán" ("Title of Totonicapán"). A long passage describing human sacrifice is difficult to interpret but features heart and arrow sacrifice, the flaying of the victim and wearing of his skin in a manner similar to the Aztec rituals associated with their god Xipe Totec, and mention of the sacrificial knife of Tohil. The Kaqchikel Maya, neighbours of the Kʼicheʼ, also practised human sacrifice. Ample evidence of human sacrifice has been excavated at Iximche, their capital. Human sacrifice is evidenced at the site by the altar upon Structure 2, of a type used in heart sacrifice, and by a cylindrical cache of skulls taken from decapitated victims accompanied by obsidian knives.
Human sacrifice in Maya culture | Postclassic period (900–1524)
There is evidence of child sacrifice in Teotihuacano culture. As early as 1906, Leopoldo Batres uncovered burials of children at the four corners of the Pyramid of the Sun. Archaeologists have found newborn skeletons associated with altars, leading some to suspect "deliberate death by infant sacrifice".
Human sacrifice in pre-Columbian cultures | Teotihuacan culture
The Aztecs practiced ritualistic cannibalism. Victims, usually prisoners of war, were sacrificed in public on top of temples and pyramids by cutting out their hearts. The bodies were then thrown down to the ground where they were dismembered. The pieces were then distributed to the elite, which were mostly warriors and priests. The meat was consumed in the form of stews flavored only with salt and eaten with corn tortillas, but without the otherwise ubiquitous chili. The veintena Tlacaxipehualiztli was one of intense human sacrifice, it was noted by Sahagun that "it was the time when all captives died, all those taken, all those who were made captive, the men, the women, all the children." It began with the sacrifice of captured warriors, the flesh of the sacrificed warriors would be taken to the residence of the Aztec who had captured the warrior.
Aztec cuisine | Cannibalism
In one of these cases, Stela 11 in Piedras Negras, Guatemala, a sacrificed boy can be seen. Other scenes of sacrificed boys are visible on painted jars.
Human sacrifice in pre-Columbian cultures | Maya culture
The same text describes how the Kaqchikel captured a powerful lord, called Tolkʼom, who was tied to a scaffold and was shot with arrows during a ritual dance.
Human sacrifice in Maya culture | Postclassic period (900–1524)
Sacrifice includes the practice of offering the lives of animals or people to the gods, as an act of propitiation or worship. The practice of sacrifice is found in the oldest human records, and the archaeological record finds corpses, both animal and human, that show marks of having been sacrificed and have been dated to long before any records. Human sacrifice was practiced in many ancient cultures. The practice has varied between different civilizations, with some like the Aztecs being notorious for their ritual killings, while others have looked down on the practice. Victims ranging from prisoners to infants to virgins were killed to please their gods, suffering such fates as burning, beheading and being buried alive.
Death and culture | Sacrifices
For instance, the Coyolxauhqui stone found at the foot of the Templo Mayor commemorates the mythic slaying of Huitzilopochli's sister for the matricide of Coatlicue; it also, as Cecelia Kline has pointed out, "served to warn potential enemies of their certain fate should they try to obstruct the state's military ambitions". In addition to the accounts provided by Sahagún and Durán, there are other important texts to be considered. Juan de Grijalva, Hernán Cortés, Juan Díaz, Bernal Díaz, Andrés de Tapia, Francisco de Aguilar, Ruy González and the Anonymous Conqueror detailed their eyewitness accounts of human sacrifice in their writings about the Conquest of Mexico.
Human sacrifice in Aztec culture | Primary sources
Some of the most famous forms of ancient human sacrifice were performed by various Pre-Columbian civilizations in the Americas that included the sacrifice of prisoners as well as voluntary sacrifice. Friar Marcos de Niza (1539), writing of the Chichimecas, said that from time to time "they of this valley cast lots whose luck (honour) it shall be to be sacrificed, and they make him great cheer, on whom the lot falls, and with great joy they crown him with flowers upon a bed prepared in the said ditch all full of flowers and sweet herbs, on which they lay him along, and lay great store of dry wood on both sides of him, and set it on fire on either part, and so he dies" and "that the victim took great pleasure" in being sacrificed.
Human sacrifice | Pre-Columbian Americas
During the Classic period, the sacrifice of companions to accompany high-ranking burials is likely to have been widespread and performed using the heart extraction method, leaving little evidence on skeletal remains. Analysis of those remains that do bear marks suggestive of heart sacrifice indicates that during the Classic period the Maya used a method involving cutting across the diaphragm immediately below the ribcage and cutting the heart free. During the Late Classical period (600-900), a feature of ritualistic practices that rose into prevalence were skull racks, or tzompantli. The skulls placed here were typically from sacrificial rituals and victims. Chichen Itza had one of the largest, most elaborate skull racks during the Late Classical period.
Human sacrifice in Maya culture | Classic period (250–900)
Both humans and animals were sacrificed, depending on the god to be placated and the ceremony being conducted, and priests of some gods were sometimes required to provide their own blood through self-mutilation. Sacrificial rituals among the Aztecs, and in Mesoamerica in general, must be seen in the context of religious cosmology: sacrifice and death was necessary for the continued existence of the world. Likewise, each part of life had one or more deities associated with it and these had to be paid their dues in order to achieve success. Gods were paid with sacrificial offerings of food, flowers, effigies, and quail.
Aztec religion | Cosmology and ritual
Some anthropologists objected to the presence of a huge pit filled with rotting corpses near the fields of the Maya. Hansen states that this is "conjecture", saying that "all [Gibson was] trying to do there is express the horror of it". "The Washington Post" reported that the famous Bonampak murals were digitally altered to show a warrior holding a dripping human heart, which is not present in the original.
Apocalypto | Human sacrifice
Animals were also frequently sacrificed. Animals such as quail, turkeys, deer, and dogs were commonly used. Quail were considered “clean and pure” to the Zapotec, because they drank water from dew drops, and not “dirty water” sources. Species used include the Montezuma quail (Cyrtonyx montezumae) and the Bob-white quail (Colinus virginianus). There is also evidence of jaguar sacrifice at Copán and Teotihuacan. Their remains have lead researchers to believe they were used for funerary rites of great leaders or other occasions. They were seen as the “alter ego” to their powerful shaman kings.
Human sacrifice in Maya culture | Animal sacrificing
Michael Harner, in his 1977 article "The Enigma of Aztec Sacrifice", cited an estimate by Borah of the number of persons sacrificed in central Mexico in the 15th century as high as 250,000 per year which may have been one percent of the population. Fernando de Alva Cortés Ixtlilxochitl, a Mexica descendant and the author of Codex Ixtlilxochitl, estimated that one in five children of the Mexica subjects was killed annually. Victor Davis Hanson argues that a claim by Don Carlos Zumárraga of 20,000 per annum is "more plausible". Other scholars believe that, since the Aztecs often tried to intimidate their enemies, it is more likely that they could have inflated the number as a propaganda tool.
Human sacrifice in Aztec culture | Scope of Human Sacrifice In Aztec Culture
A Postclassic mass burial in Champotón in Campeche, Mexico, included skeletons bearing evidence of violent blows to the sternum that have been interpreted as evidence of heart sacrifice. The Madrid Codex, a Postclassic hieroglyphic Maya book, has an illustration of sacrifice by heart extraction, with the victim stretched over an arched stone. Among the Kʼicheʼ of highland Guatemala, human sacrifice was performed to the Kʼicheʼ gods. Writing at the end of the 17th century, Francisco Ximénez described the tradition that upon the temple of Tohil, human sacrifices were tied before the representation of the deity, where the priest would open the victim's chest and cut out his heart.
Human sacrifice in Maya culture | Postclassic period (900–1524)
There was tremendous Aztec influence by this time. The Aztecs were clearly ruthless in their conquest and pursuit of sacrificial victims, a practice that spilled over into some of the Maya areas." Anthropology professor Stephen Houston made the criticism that sacrifice victims were more likely to be royalty and elites rather than common forest dwellers, as shown in "Apocalypto". Anthropology professor Karl Taube criticized the film's apparent depiction of widespread slavery, saying, "We have no evidence of large numbers of slaves." Another disputed scene, when Jaguar Paw and the rest of the captives are used as target practice, was acknowledged by the filmmakers to be invented as a plot device for igniting the chase sequence.
Apocalypto | Human sacrifice
Tlaloc is the god of rain, water, and earthly fertility. The Aztecs believed that if sacrifices were not supplied for Tlaloc, rain would not come, their crops would not flourish, and leprosy and rheumatism, diseases caused by Tlaloc, would infest the village. Archaeologists have found the remains of at least 42 children sacrificed to Tlaloc at the Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan. Many of the children suffered from serious injuries before their death, they would have to have been in significant pain as Tlaloc required the tears of the young as part of the sacrifice. The priests made the children cry during their way to immolation: a good omen that Tlaloc would wet the earth in the raining season.
Human sacrifice in Aztec culture | Tlaloc
Late Classic graffiti from a structure buried under Group G in Tikal depicts a sacrifice bound to a stake with his hands tied behind his head; the victim was disembowelled. At the Classic period city of Palenque, a woman in her twenties was entombed alive to accompany a deceased nobleman as a funerary offering. At the Sacred Cenote in Chichen Itza, people were hurled into the cenote during times of drought, famine or disease. The Sacred Cenote is a naturally occurring sinkhole eroded from the local limestone; it is approximately wide and drops to the water surface, with the water another deep.
Human sacrifice in Maya culture | Other methods
But the larger the effort required of the god, the greater the sacrifice had to be. Blood fed the gods and kept the sun from falling. For some of the most important rites, a priest would offer his own blood by cutting his ears, arms, tongue, thighs, chest, genitals, or offer a human life or a god's life. The people who were sacrificed came from many segments of society and might have been a war captive, slave, or a member of Aztec society; the sacrifice might also have been man or woman, adult or child, or noble or commoner.
Aztec religion | Cosmology and ritual
The sides of the cenote are sheer. Human sacrifice was practiced right up until the Spanish conquest of Yucatán, well after the decline of the city. At times sacrifices were tightly bound into a ball and were bounced in a ritual reenactment of the ballgame.
Human sacrifice in Maya culture | Other methods
Cortés was the Spanish conquistador whose expedition to Mexico in 1519 led to the fall of the Aztecs, and led to the conquering of vast sections of Mexico on behalf of the Crown of Castile. Cortés wrote of Aztec sacrifice on numerous occasions, one of which in his "Letters," he states: The Anonymous Conquistador was an unknown travel companion of Cortés who wrote "Narrative of Some Things of New Spain and of the Great City of Temestitan" which details Aztec sacrifices.
Human sacrifice in Aztec culture | Hernán Cortés and the Anonymous Conquistador
He was capricious and often brought about reversals of fortune, such as bringing drought and famine. He turned himself into Mixcoatl, the god of the hunt, to make fire. To the Aztecs, he was an all-knowing, all-seeing nearly all-powerful god. One of his names can be translated as "He Whose Slaves We Are". Some captives were sacrificed to Tezcatlipoca in ritual gladiatorial combat. The victim was tethered in place and given a mock weapon. He died fighting against up to four fully armed jaguar knights and eagle warriors. During the 20-day month of Toxcatl, a young impersonator of Tezcatlipoca would be sacrificed.
Human sacrifice in Aztec culture | Tezcatlipoca
There are also accounts of captured Conquistadores being sacrificed during the wars of the Spanish invasion of Mexico.
Sacrifice | Human sacrifice
Although there is no incontrovertible evidence of child sacrifice in the Olmec civilization, full skeletons of newborn or unborn infants, as well as dismembered femurs and skulls, have been found at the El Manatí sacrificial bog. These bones are associated with sacrificial offerings, particularly wooden busts. It is not known yet how the infants met their deaths. Some researchers have also associated infant sacrifice with Olmec ritual art showing limp "were-jaguar" babies, most famously in La Venta's Altar 5 (to the right) or Las Limas figure. Definitive answers await further findings.
Human sacrifice in pre-Columbian cultures | Olmec Culture
Important rituals such as the dedication of major building projects or the enthronement of a new ruler required a human sacrificial offering. The sacrifice of an enemy king was the most prized offering, and such a sacrifice involved decapitation of the captive ruler in a ritual reenactment of the decapitation of the Maya maize god by the Maya death gods. In AD 738, the vassal king Kʼakʼ Tiliw Chan Yopaat of Quiriguá captured his overlord, Uaxaclajuun Ubʼaah Kʼawiil of Copán and a few days later he ritually decapitated him; such royal sacrifices were often recorded in Maya script with the "ax event" glyph.
Human sacrifice in Maya culture | Decapitation
A number of methods were employed by the Maya, the most common being decapitation and heart extraction. Additional forms of sacrifice included ritually shooting the victim with arrows, hurling sacrifices into a deep sinkhole, entombing alive to accompany a noble burial, tying the sacrifice into a ball for a ritual reenactment of the Mesoamerican ballgame and disembowelment.
Human sacrifice in Maya culture | Introduction
Xipe Totec, known as "Our Lord the Flayed One", is the god of rebirth, agriculture, the seasons, and craftsmen. Xipe Totec was worshipped extensively during the festival of "Tlacaxipehualiztli", in which captured warriors and slaves were sacrificed in the ceremonial center of the city of Tenochtitlan. For forty days prior to their sacrifice one victim would be chosen from each ward of the city to act as "ixiptla," dress and live as Xipe Totec. The victims were then taken to the Xipe Totec's temple where their hearts would be removed, their bodies dismembered, and their body parts divided up to be later eaten.
Human sacrifice in Aztec culture | Xipe Totec
The practice of human sacrifice in Pre-Columbian cultures, in particular Mesoamerican and South American cultures, is well documented both in the archaeological records and in written sources. The exact ideologies behind child sacrifice in different pre-Columbian cultures are unknown but it is often thought to have been performed in order to placate certain gods.
Human sacrifice in pre-Columbian cultures | Introduction
In AD 738, the vassal king Kʼakʼ Tiliw Chan Yopaat of Quiriguá captured his overlord, Uaxaclajuun Ubʼaah Kʼawiil of Copán and a few days later ritually decapitated him. Sacrifice by decapitation is depicted in Classic period Maya art, and sometimes took place after the victim was tortured, being variously beaten, scalped, burnt or disembowelled. Another myth associated with decapitation was that of the Hero Twins recounted in the "Popol Vuh": playing a ballgame against the gods of the underworld, the heroes achieved victory, but one of each pair of twins was decapitated by their opponents. During the Postclassic period, the most common form of human sacrifice was heart extraction, influenced by the rites of the Aztecs in the Valley of Mexico; this usually took place in the courtyard of a temple, or upon the summit of the pyramid.
Maya civilization | Human sacrifice
Politically human sacrifice was important in Aztec culture as a way to represent a social hierarchy between their own culture and the enemies surrounding their city. Additionally, it was a way to structure the society of the Aztec culture itself. The hierarchy of cities like Tenochtitlan were tiered with the "Tlatoani" (emperor) on the top, the remaining nobles ("pipiltin") next who managed the land owned by the emperor. Then the warriors, the "pochteca" (merchants), commoners and farmers. Then the lowest level of the hierarchy consisted of slaves and indentured servants. The only way of achieving social mobility was through successful performance as a warrior.
Human sacrifice in Aztec culture | Political explanation
Excavations at Templo Mayor in the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan have revealed many skulls belonging to women and children, in addition to those of men, a demonstration of the diversity of the human sacrifices in Aztec culture. After displaying severed heads, many scholars have determined that limbs of Aztec victims would be cannibalized Fray Diego Durán confirms this, stating that skulls were delivered to temples after "the flesh had been eaten". Durán notes that the were periodically renovated. Regarding this, Durán states"When [the skulls] become old and deteriorated, they fell in pieces. When the palisade become old, however, it was renovated, and on its removal many [skulls] broke.
Tzompantli | Preparation of
According to Diego Durán's History of the Indies of New Spain, and a few other sources that are also based on the Crónica X, the Flower Wars were an act of ritual between the cities of Aztec Triple Alliance and Tlaxcala, Huexotzingo and Cholula. This form of ritual was introduced probably after mid-1450s following droughts and famine caused many deaths within the Mexican highlands. The droughts and damage to the crops were believed to be punishment by the gods for feeling unappreciated instead of being honored properly. Therefore, the Flower Wars became a way to obtain human sacrifices in a very structured and ceremonial manner which were then used as offerings.
Human sacrifice in Aztec culture | Flower Wars
The Spanish Captain Francisco de Mirones and a Franciscan priest were sacrificed using the heart extraction method after being bound to the forked posts of the church. The rest of the Spanish party were also sacrificed, and their bodies impaled on stakes at the village entrance. In 1684 three Franciscan friars were killed, probably by heart sacrifice, at the Manche Chʼol settlement of Paliac on the Caribbean coast of Belize. They included Francisco Custodio, Marcos de Muros, and an unnamed lay brother.
Human sacrifice in Maya culture | Human sacrifice during the Spanish conquest (1511–1697)
Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more humans as part of a ritual, usually intended to please or appease gods, spirits or the dead ancestors, such as a propitiatory offerings or as a retainer sacrifice when a king's servants are killed in order for them to continue to serve their master in the next life. Closely related practices found in some tribal societies are cannibalism and headhunting. Human sacrifice was practised in many human societies beginning in prehistoric times. By the Iron Age (1st millennium BC), with the associated developments in religion (the Axial Age), human sacrifice was becoming less common throughout the Old World, and came to be looked down upon as barbaric during classical antiquity.
Human sacrifice | Introduction
In one ritual, the corpse would be skinned by assistant priests, except for the hands and feet, and the officiating priest would then dress himself in the skin of the sacrificial victim and perform a ritual dance symbolizing the rebirth of life. Archaeological investigations indicate that heart sacrifice was practised as early as the Classic period.
Maya civilization | Human sacrifice
The capturer was forbidden to feast on the flesh of the sacrificed, however his family would eat it. A stew called tlacatlaolli was prepared out of dried maize and into each serving would be placed a piece of the flesh of the captive. In the late 1970s the anthropologist Michael Harner suggested that the Aztecs had resorted to large-scale, organized cannibalism to make up for a supposed protein deficiency in the diet. This idea gained limited support from some scholars, but has been shown to be based on unfounded assumptions about eating habits, agriculture and demographics, making it a highly unlikely scenario.
Aztec cuisine | Cannibalism
A variety of methods were used by the ancient Maya to perform human sacrifice, such as:
Human sacrifice in Maya culture | Methods
Rejoicing was general: a new cycle of fifty-two years was beginning, and the end of the world had been postponed, at least for another 52-year cycle. Sacrifices were made on specific days. Sahagún, Juan Bautista de Pomar and Motolinía report that the Aztecs had eighteen festivities each year, one for each Aztec month. The table below shows the festivals of the 18-month year of the Aztec calendar and the deities with which the festivals were associated.
Human sacrifice in Aztec culture | The 52-year cycle