How many aztec sacrifices

But in and , archeologists working at the Templo Mayor excavation site in Mexico City discovered proof of widespread human sacrifice among the Aztecs—none other than the very skull towers and skull racks that conquistadors had described in their accounts.

Why did they carry out such brutal ceremonies? John Verano , an anthropology professor at Tulane University, explains the practice held spiritual significance for the Aztecs.

Large and small human sacrifices would be made throughout the year to coincide with important calendar dates, he explains, to dedicate temples, to reverse drought and famine, and more.

The rationale for Aztec human sacrifice was, first and foremost, a matter of survival. According to Aztec cosmology, the sun god Huitzilopochtli was waging a constant war against darkness, and if the darkness won, the world would end.

The keep the sun moving across the sky and preserve their very lives, the Aztecs had to feed Huitzilopochtli with human hearts and blood. More than skulls and thousands of fragments found near Templo Mayor. Moreiras, who has studied samples of Mexica sacrificial victims and is an expert in Mesoamerican rituals including sacrifice, explained that the vast majority of these victims, made up of men, women and children, were most likely slaves, either obtained because of war, as gifts to the Mexica or from slave markets.

Through an oxygen isotopic analysis of human remains, she and her team found that the people selected for sacrifice belonged to diverse areas of Mesoamerica. But the link to pandemics as what inspired the sacrifices made in these social media posts is historically unfounded. The Mexica and the Aztecs did conduct sacrifices in the event of famines or environmental critical situations such as droughts here.

All Aztecs cities contained temples dedicated to their gods and all of them saw human sacrifices. Whatever the total was, we know from both the Aztecs and the Spanish that many human beings lost their lives to human sacrifice. We will probably never know exactly how many.

This article is part of our larger resource on Aztec civilization. The Aztecs are a fascinating civilization for many reasons, a taste for human sacrifice being unquestionably among them. Stanely does, is objectifying. It denies the fact that sacrificial-worship culture was a component of Mesoamerican civilization at the time, and a distinctive one at that! By providing your email, you agree to the Quartz Privacy Policy. Skip to navigation Skip to content.

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