Aztecs butchered, ate Spanish invaders

[phoenix_arose]

CALPULALPAN, Mexico (Reuters) -- Skeletons found at an unearthed site in Mexico show Aztecs captured, ritually sacrificed and partially ate several hundred people traveling with invading Spanish forces in 1520.


Full story here http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/science/08/23/aztecs.cannibals.reut/index.html

Comments

I don't get it.

[rsimon.livejournal.com]

Maybe it's where I grew up, my religious preference, or the fact that I have a long time interest in mythology and treasure hunting, but I cannot imagine anyone that has heard of the Aztecs being surprised by this. That's what those big pyramid shaped building were: sacrificial altars. The human sacrifice was one of the reasons that Cortes wanted to conquer and convert them. The biggest reason, naturally, was to get their gold, but we always overlook the fact that Cortes asked for a ransom and then killed the captive.....

I just cannot see this as "news" or surprising, I have known this since I was 15 or so.

Re: I don't get it.

[perfect-drug.livejournal.com]

I think the "surprise" was that previously they wer some how under the impression that they just capitulated b/c they thought he was a god ....... i don't find it surprising so much as interesting

Re: I don't get it.

[neohippie.livejournal.com]

Serve's em right I say.

Re: I don't get it.

[nightdragon.livejournal.com]

it was the size of the massacre that was surprising to them, i think. it even says the township had to call in extra priests to do the ritual sacrifices - they were not in the habit of sacrificing several people per day for months on end. once for every major event, yes, but not several people per day for months, and not keeping 500 captives in cages for that long. the spanish were praised for their readiness to acculturate the mexican indigenous tribes rather than slaughtering them on a large scale, so this is also a surprise that cortes had the entire city slaughtered, too. (i mean, not surprising by modern sensibilities, but surprising in the grander history of it all.) my $.02

[tekelili.livejournal.com]

This story seems rather innaccurate, actually. Due to strange fascination, I've done extensive research on cannibalistic cultures, and, the sacrifices they are describing are not correct. The article claims that this caravan was comprised not only of conquistadors, but also of non-warriors in a servant capacity. Out of these, only the conquistadors would be eligible to be sacrified for the purpose described, the daily run ritual. It was required that these sacrifices be captured enemy warriors, they could not be anything else. Due to this, the Aztec communities would sometimes hold staged conflicts with their neighbors, which involved the capture, not killing, of the opposite side, to be held for ritual later. There wasn't always a real war from which to capture sacrifices, so it was a necessity.

So, perhaps this caravan may have been sacrificed and eaten, but, the conquistadors would be the only ones eligible for the usual sun rite. There were of course many others, and I'd wager that it was those rites which they would have been held for.

[perfect-drug.livejournal.com]

very cool and informitive thanks !