Human+Sacrifice+of+the+Aztecs

Author: Scott Simmons
 * Human Sacrifice in the Aztec Culture **



Introduction
One of the most famous things about the Aztecs was their practice of human sacrifice. Although the thought may seem barbaric to most present day people, it was a very important part of their culture. Understanding and interpreting human sacrifice is important to fully understand the beliefs of the ancient Aztecs.

Non-Human Sacrifice
The actual rituals of human sacrifice aren’t always focused on humans. The ritual changed every so often depending on the current leader of the Aztecs and what year it was. The Aztecs believed that they owed to their Gods whether it is good weather for farming or safety from attacks. Some other branches of these rituals would include sacrificing prisoners of war from rival clans and animals. This is proven by recent archeological evidence being dug up of hundreds of skulls of humans lined up with animals as well. Not only adult skulls, but children remains are being found also. Although highly debated, it is clear that children were in fact sacrificed by the Aztecs by means not fully understood.

The Process
The basic and most well-known type of sacrifice is taking the heart of the victim. The sacrifice, as do most, take place high in the great pyramids of the Aztecs. Having the ritual high up on a pyramid makes it a much more visual type of ceremony where thousands can watch. The victim would lie down on a high stone slab and if required, be bound down. This is when the high priest would swiftly remove the heart of the victim while displaying it to the crowds. Since steel was unknown to the Aztecs, he would use a sharp ceramic ceremonial knife shown in figure 1 to do the cutting. Although this process is very bloody, the victim would surprisingly not feel a thing since death would be ideally instantaneous. Instantaneous if the one doing the cutting was very precise and had a high skill level with the knife. The body would then be thrust down the stairs like a rag doll. Removing the heart isn’t the only practice however. Depending on the time in the Aztec calendar and reason, some sacrificial victims would be burned to death, stabbed to death, and even drowned. For example in the month of Etzalcualiztli, Aztec civilians imposing as Gods would be sacrificed by drowning. This is where it gets tricky to estimate the amount of people sacrificed since these forms of death happen in battles.

Reasons
A big question for historians is the why. Why exactly did the Aztecs practice human sacrifice? What was so important about human sacrifice that the Aztecs had to sacrifice tens of thousands of their own kind every year? One main reason is religion. Now this paper won’t go in depth of the vast religion of the Aztecs. The Aztecs felt a great debt to their Gods. To keep the sun going around every year, so to speak, is to give back to the Gods in blood and life. Another reason is diet. With an annual body rate of in the tens of thousands every year, that is a lot of meat piling up. Cannibalism is a very reasonable theory what happened to the remains of the victims. The thought of eating other humans isn’t appealing to most today but looking at their culture and how they do things; human is just another source of energy that shouldn’t be wasted. Although no one really knows how much the Aztecs consumed, it is, in reality, a very good source of protein since they did not have livestock for meat.

Spanish Encounter
When the Spaniards first gazed upon the Aztec civilization, they were very impressed and astonished by the sheer size of the place. These Aztec people had a very advanced society. That feeling didn’t last long, though, when they witnessed human sacrifice being practiced by the Aztecs. Their excitement turned into a sickening feeling deep in their stomachs. The accounts of the horrified Spaniards are debated arguing that their accounts are exaggerated. Although there is no clear evidence if it is, one has to keep in mind that the Spanish had never heard of such “barbaric” rituals being done on such a large scale.

Human Sacrifice Today
It may be a surprising to most that human sacrifice still occurs today, both for religious reasons and unfortunately in acts of crime. An example of human sacrifice is a Hindu cult in India which was a news story covered back in 2002. The priests there would use animals to sacrifice which resulted in heavy criticism from animal rights groups. Because of this, they moved on to human sacrifice, relying on volunteers which are understandably hard to come by. One example with a crime basis happened in Africa back in 2002. A 70 year old killed a young boy for voodoo ritual purposes. This is just one example of human sacrifice that is done by criminals.

Conclusion
It is important when learning about human sacrifice by the Aztecs to not be thrown off by the brutality of the ritual. It was such an integrated part of their society that there was even human sacrifice after a recreational ball game. The losers of the game would be beheaded by the winners. This game is also portrayed, very accurately, in a movie called “Road to El Dorado.” The object of the game was to put a ball through a little hole mounted high up on a wall. This game would undoubtedly be a very exciting thing to watch since the players are literally playing for their lives. Human sacrifice was a very important part of Aztec culture and learning about it requires an open mind.

** Annotated Bibliography ** 1. "Human Sacrifice in Aztec Culture." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 10 Apr. 2011. . This website is about as broad and informative as it can get. It covers a wide range of branches off human sacrifice of the Aztecs including religion, reasons, processes, tools, other types of sacrifices, and accounts by the Spaniards. It also goes more in depth for the reasons the Aztecs performed human sacrifice.

2. "Aztec Sacrifice." Aztec History. Web. 10 Apr. 2011. . A short article on the many other types of sacrifices performed by the Aztecs. Not only humans, but animals and possessions. Also it gives out more sacrificial techniques such as burning, drowning, stabbing, and other practices.

3. Pettifor, Eric. "Aztec Motives for Mass Sacrifice." Contact Wynja Web Development. Web. 10 Apr. 2011. . This is a very in-depth and information article on the nutrition that is gained from eating the sacrificed victims. It also gives out very detailed reasons and theories on why the Aztecs practiced human sacrifice. This gives rise to controversial questions for the real motives behind human sacrifice that the Aztecs possessed.

4. "Aztec Human Sacrifice." Essortment Articles: Free Online Articles on Health, Science, Education & More... Web. 10 Apr. 2011. . This website gives more on the reaction and thoughts the Spaniards had when they first encountered the act of human sacrifice. It also gives an estimate for the number of people killed by sacrifice which I can compare to other sources since it is heavily debated.

5. [] This is a digitized copy of a section in the book. It has an informative section on the process of human sacrifice and who exactly was in charge. There is also a good passage stating how the number of people sacrificed relied on the state and control of the Aztec city.

6. < [] __  >   __ This gives a more focus on the society and the Aztecs way of life. It also gives an easy to read calendar which breaks down the Aztec year in periods and explains what they do, whether it be sacrifice or other practices such as farming, all year long. It also gives more information on what role religion plays on Aztec society.

7. "Aztec Sacrifices - Fun Facts, Questions, Answers, Information." Fun Trivia Quizzes - World's Largest Trivia and Quiz Site! Web. 10 Apr. 2011. . It is a good idea to make all research papers interesting to keep the reader’s attention. This website gives some random, yet interesting facts about the Aztecs. To keep things moving forward, injections of interesting facts can be incorporated in the paper.

8. "Archeological Remains Confirm Cannibalism, Human Sacrifice in Meso-American Civilisations - Stirpes." Stirpes - Identity & Tradition in a Free Europe of Sovereign Nations - Stirpes. Web. 10 Apr. 2011. . With the debate on whether the Spaniards depiction of human sacrifice was exaggerated, this is a good article which gives both sides of the argument. This article goes even further and talks about a recent archeological discovery that backs up the claim. There are also some quotes from the scientists themselves which were a part of the discovery.

9. "Child Sacrifice in Pre-Columbian Cultures." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 10 Apr. 2011. . Off the other Wikipedia source, this one covers much more in depth about Child sacrifice of the Aztecs. This topic is a rather disturbing part of the research paper but it must still be discussed.

10. "Tlaloc." History - AllAboutHistory.org. Web. 10 Apr. 2011. . This source focuses on one of the main God’s of the Aztecs. The basis of the sacrifice relies on the offerings to God’s like this one.

11. < [] __  >   __ This long article goes more in depth of the different topics of interesting that is covered in the paper. It goes further in the Spaniards viewpoint debate, processes of human sacrifice, Aztec society and culture, and more on what happens to the heart of the victims.

12. "Aztec Dodgeball: Where the Loser Gets Decapitated." Popular | Environmental Graffiti. Web. 10 Apr. 2011. . This website covers an interesting ballgame where the losers would be beheaded by the winners. It provides more evidence how the Aztecs saw human sacrifice as a crucial way of life and rather than a very uncommon practice.

13. "The Road to El Dorado (2000) - IMDb." The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Web. 10 Apr. 2011. . This is a cartoon movie with Aztec culture a part of it. It also contains a scene with the game and the losers are to be sacrificed. This proves human sacrifice of the Aztecs is a relatively well known trait about their culture.

14. "History of Literature." History of Art. Web. 10 Apr. 2011. . This website shows close up photos and of different artistic works of the Aztecs representing Gods and sacrifice. It also explains and analysis the clues given in these pictures. A lot of the information gained about human sacrifice was given through artifacts like these as well as primary sources from the Spaniards.

15. "Aztec Civilization." Mahalo.com. Web. 10 Apr. 2011. . Near the end of the page gives a timeline from 1100 to 1522. Through the four centuries it has major events that have affected the Aztec culture.

16. "Human Sacrifice Today - Who Is Really Doing It? (Fringe Adherents of Some Genuinely Old Religions, Mostly)." Angelfire: Welcome to Angelfire. Web. 10 Apr. 2011. . This website gives out a large number of other sources which cover present day human sacrifice. It splits up the list of website by Countries including India, Africa, and the UK. This proves that human sacrifice still occurs today in cultures as well as criminal acts.

17. "Aztec Pyramids." 2020 Site - Wedding Invitation Wording, Family Crests, Trees and Other Eclectic Information at 2020. Web. 10 Apr. 2011. . The sacrificing ritual mainly happened in the pyramids. This source covers their religious purpose as well as a couple theories of a massive sacrifice that happened inside one of the pyramids.

18. < [] __  >   __ A short but to the point website that gives the process of a common type of human sacrifice. It gives more information describing the techniques of the priest doing the ritual.

19. "About Aztec Indians." Aztec History. Web. 10 Apr. 2011. . A short and sweet background on the Aztecs. It gives a good small bit of information about their diet which isn’t always human flesh for protein, but insects and hunted animals they come across.

20. "The Meanings & Functions of the Aztec's Cannibalistic Sacrifice." HermAphroditeZine Contents Page For, Well, Everything Else. Web. 10 Apr. 2011. . This source is derived mainly from quotes of other respectable sources. It gives out more statistics about the deaths and even more on the reasons behind human sacrifice. The evidence used is a very useful perspective.

21. "Aztec Sacrifice." Latin American Studies. Web. 10 Apr. 2011. <http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/aztecs6.htm>. This contains the picture used in the paper. It shows a stack of ceremonial knives used in the ritual of human sacrifice.

22. [] This contains the heading picture used in this essay. It shows a priest removing the heart in a sacrificual ritual.