Tower of human skulls reveals more secrets of human sacrifice in the Aztec Empire (dangerous, rating)
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At first it was thought that the Spanish chronicles and from the conquest era were exaggerating and outright lying about the human sacrifices of the Aztecs. For centuries it was held as a myth meant to discredit the Aztecs and justify the conquest.
Then evidence was found in the late 20th century that corroborated the human sacrifices described by the Spanish. As outlandish as it sounds, ripping the heart while its bearing and from an alive person on top of the pyramids, chopping off his head, and throwing the remaining blood gushing corps down the pyramid stairs is all true.
Now even more evidence has been found. The publication Insider says in a recent article:
Quote:
Archaeologists have discovered 119 more human skulls in new sections of an Aztec tower dating back to the 1400s in Mexico.
The tower has been split into three construction phases, which are thought to date between 1486 and 1502, according to Sky News.
Quote:
In March, the team uncovered the facade and eastern part of the tower, which is roughly 15.4ft in diameter, and were surprised to find the skulls of women and children and males raising questions about human sacrifice in the Aztec Empire, Reuters reported.
Quote:
Over 600 human skulls have now been found at the site, which Mexican authorities have called one of the country's most important archaeological discoveries in years, The Telegraph added.
Quite frankly, this reminds me of a scene of the movie Apocalito which deals with the similar thing, except that deals with the Mayans than the Aztecs.
Now this is City-Data and I can see someone saying that in who knows what the civilization in Europe or somewhere in Asia human sacrifices were practiced too. I know that, but it remains also true that those things were done thousands of years ago and were largely or entirety eradicated by the time the sacrifices of the Aztecs ended. Plus, the end of those sacrifices in Europe or Asia was done by mostly “natural” ends of those civilizations. It wasn’t like the Aztecs whose civilization was destroyed by the Spanish (who witness the sacrifices, invited by Aztec leaders thinking they would see the mass human sacrifices with positive eyes) and other indian tribes that were oppressed by the Aztecs and join the Spanish to beat them.
All in all, the human sacrifices of the Aztecs is something that interest me mostly because they were so much more recent than most other sacrifices around the world, and because many of the places where these took place still exist (namely the Aztec pyramids). To be in a place that once was covered in blood stains and himan sacrifices took place is quite exciting for a history buff. Its the closest thing to time travel.
Now this is City-Data and I can see someone saying that in who knows what the civilization in Europe or somewhere in Asia human sacrifices were practiced too. I know that, but it remains also true that those things were done thousands of years ago and were largely or entirety eradicated by the time the sacrifices of the Aztecs ended. Plus, the end of those sacrifices in Europe or Asia was done by mostly “natural” ends of those civilizations. It wasn’t like the Aztecs whose civilization was destroyed by the Spanish (who witness the sacrifices, invited by Aztec leaders thinking they would see the mass human sacrifices with positive eyes) and other indian tribes that were oppressed by the Aztecs and join the Spanish to beat them.
mmm, you know about that thing called ¨holocaust¨ practiced in the 20th century by some guys called Nazis?
Yes, the Aztecs were very violent, but to see them from that perspective, ignoring everything else, is to understand less of a great civilization.
Sacrifice was done to please their Gods. Pretty brutal, that is why their rivals hated the Aztecs. This is the part of Mesoamerican tradition I don't like. In reality though. The Spanish inquistion was just as bad. People getting killed in the name of religion and was done around the same time of the Aztec empire. There is ample evidence of this.
Sacrifice was done to please their Gods. Pretty brutal, that is why their rivals hated the Aztecs. This is the part of Mesoamerican tradition I don't like. In reality though. The Spanish inquistion was just as bad. People getting killed in the name of religion and was done around the same time of the Aztec empire. There is ample evidence of this.
Yes, both killed people, but it's a terrible gloss over to say they were both just as bad. The Aztecs didn't have a list of regulations where if you followed them, you avoided consequences, they just took people against their will and cut them open. The Inquisition wasn't a perpetual process to sustain society where deaths were needed daily. It was violence to enforce a system rather than enforcing a system of entrenched violence.
From Wikipedia, it looks like the Inquisition killed 3-5000 people. They didn't kill children. Here we have 600 at just one site. One can knock the Spanish for destroying the Mexica culture, but how do you gradually reform such a system? I don't think you could have, especially in a 1500s time. And the problems that existed under the Spanish rule were already present during the Aztec rule before. The current mix of Spanish and US and Mesoamerican culture that is Mexico is an improvement, not degradation.
I'm going to give the spanish a pass on the aztecs...
I can only imagine they being in the middle of these sacrifices celebrations, which was like holidays and major events, and seeing each other while asking "where are we?" and "are these people serious?"
I'm sure the Catholic priests that accompany them by that point thought at least the Aztec leaders were possessed by the devil. Actually, its not even a maybe, everyone knows it happen. lol
Heck, today there is a campaign to end female genital mutilations in certain parts of the world. Tradition, culture, and imperialism from the West be damned; it must end and that's that. lol
Well, OP, there was the Inquisition (1478-1834), resulting in people undergoing horrific tortures and being burned alive throughout Europe. Look at how long that phase lasted--several centuries! And it spilled over into the Americas; torture and death was brought upon Native healers suspected of witchery. In New Mexico, the tribes organized to run the Spanish out in 1680, and succeeded, because of the brutality of their repression of Native traditions. The Spanish priests only came crawling back after the Inquisition was over, and humbly asked for forgiveness, and another chance to share their religion.
In the American Southwest, there had been no piles of skulls, no such bloody customs, as among the Aztecs, other than some suspected killings carried out by some Toltec invaders at one time, prior to the arrival of the Spanish.The brutality was about forcing people into free labor, and also the persecution of their spiritual traditions and spiritual leaders. If the local tribes hadn't run the Spanish out, it could have continued until the end of the Inquisition, a much more recent time than the Aztec sacrifices.
Tower of skulls sounds like a cool name for a heavy metal album.
until you're one of the skulls
need to advocate reformed paganism
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