World History
Aztecs butchered, ate invaders. This grisly story is from today's online edition of CNN. Domestic nations have tried many tactics over the ages to repel invading armies. The Aztecs were no different and a recent find indicates they even resorted to sacrificing and eating hundreds of people in 1520.
The article notes, "Skulls and bones from the Tecuaque archeological site near Mexico City show about 550 victims had their hearts ripped out by Aztec priests in ritual offerings, and were dismembered or had their bones boiled or scraped clean, experts say."
Most of the victims were not Spanish soldiers. The were part of a large party that was made up mostly of the mulatto, mestizo, Maya Indian and Caribbean men and women given to the Spanish as carriers and cooks. As such, it was a slow moving group and proved an easy target to the Aztecs who were normally unable to defeat the Spanish in battle.
The prisoners were kept in cages for months on end and each day a few were dragged out and killed at dawn until all were dead. Fortunately, the Aztecs showed some mercy. The article notes, "Some may have been given hallucinogenic mushrooms or pulque -- an alcoholic milky drink made from fermented cactus juice -- to numb them to what was about to happen."
When the Aztecs learned the Spanish were coming to the sacrifice site, they threw all the evidence down wells. This hid the evidence from the Spanish but preserved it for future generations to find. I have a great deal of respect for Aztec culture and I do not mean to sound ethnocentric. However, I do not have much respect for this barbaric act against a group made up primarily of non-combatants. The Spanish conquest of Mexico and destruction of Aztec culture was wrong. But so was human sacrifice...
- Huaxteca
HuaxtecaMuch of what is known about the Huaxteca, or Huasteca, before the Spanish conquest of Hernán Cortés is because of the work of Dr. Gordon F. Eckholm, who was curator of Mesoamerican (Middle American) archaeology at the American Museum of...
- Quetzalcoatl
Quetzalcoatl Quetzalcoatl evokes one of the great tales of Middle American (Mesoamerican) mythology. In Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs of Mexico, the name Quetzalcoatl can be translated as “feathered serpent.†There is in fact a quetzal...
- Human Sacrifice And The Aztecs
Human Sacrifice and the Aztecs Although some maintain that the notion that the Aztecs (Mexica) practiced human sacrifice is a myth that originated with the Spanish conquistadores to justify and legitimate their conquests, in fact, abundant evidence demonstrates...
- Nahua (nahuatl)
NahuaWhile Nahua, or Nahuatl, is the primary Mesoamerican linguistic group, its origins are actually in North America, where the first speakers of the language originated. It is from the general linguistic family known as the Uto-Aztecan, one of several...
- History Of Mexico
History of Mexio. This essay features a history of the North American nation of Mexico. It uses information from both the 1907 Catholic Encyclopedia and US State Department Background Notes. Wikipedia notes, "The United Mexican States or Mexico (Spanish:...
World History
Aztecs butchered, ate invaders
Aztecs butchered, ate invaders. This grisly story is from today's online edition of CNN. Domestic nations have tried many tactics over the ages to repel invading armies. The Aztecs were no different and a recent find indicates they even resorted to sacrificing and eating hundreds of people in 1520.
The article notes, "Skulls and bones from the Tecuaque archeological site near Mexico City show about 550 victims had their hearts ripped out by Aztec priests in ritual offerings, and were dismembered or had their bones boiled or scraped clean, experts say."
Most of the victims were not Spanish soldiers. The were part of a large party that was made up mostly of the mulatto, mestizo, Maya Indian and Caribbean men and women given to the Spanish as carriers and cooks. As such, it was a slow moving group and proved an easy target to the Aztecs who were normally unable to defeat the Spanish in battle.
The prisoners were kept in cages for months on end and each day a few were dragged out and killed at dawn until all were dead. Fortunately, the Aztecs showed some mercy. The article notes, "Some may have been given hallucinogenic mushrooms or pulque -- an alcoholic milky drink made from fermented cactus juice -- to numb them to what was about to happen."
When the Aztecs learned the Spanish were coming to the sacrifice site, they threw all the evidence down wells. This hid the evidence from the Spanish but preserved it for future generations to find. I have a great deal of respect for Aztec culture and I do not mean to sound ethnocentric. However, I do not have much respect for this barbaric act against a group made up primarily of non-combatants. The Spanish conquest of Mexico and destruction of Aztec culture was wrong. But so was human sacrifice...
- Huaxteca
HuaxtecaMuch of what is known about the Huaxteca, or Huasteca, before the Spanish conquest of Hernán Cortés is because of the work of Dr. Gordon F. Eckholm, who was curator of Mesoamerican (Middle American) archaeology at the American Museum of...
- Quetzalcoatl
Quetzalcoatl Quetzalcoatl evokes one of the great tales of Middle American (Mesoamerican) mythology. In Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs of Mexico, the name Quetzalcoatl can be translated as “feathered serpent.†There is in fact a quetzal...
- Human Sacrifice And The Aztecs
Human Sacrifice and the Aztecs Although some maintain that the notion that the Aztecs (Mexica) practiced human sacrifice is a myth that originated with the Spanish conquistadores to justify and legitimate their conquests, in fact, abundant evidence demonstrates...
- Nahua (nahuatl)
NahuaWhile Nahua, or Nahuatl, is the primary Mesoamerican linguistic group, its origins are actually in North America, where the first speakers of the language originated. It is from the general linguistic family known as the Uto-Aztecan, one of several...
- History Of Mexico
History of Mexio. This essay features a history of the North American nation of Mexico. It uses information from both the 1907 Catholic Encyclopedia and US State Department Background Notes. Wikipedia notes, "The United Mexican States or Mexico (Spanish:...