Aztecs sacrificed some Spanish invaders

[katherine_carla]

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

Comments

[metahara]

well, isn't it "nice" when Scientific (read "white" accepted) evidence supports what is common knowledge amongst those "colonized"
descendants of Aztec blood must be so relieved (sarcasm).
But seriously,
thanks for sharing these findings. : )

[chiaroscuroman]

Though there is a good amount of evidence supporting ritual cannibalism in Mesoamerica, most of it is anecdotal(?) accounts and actual remains are rare. This is an interesting opportunity, but I have to wonder how much of it was inferred from these stories and not actually extrapolated from the evidence. E.g. "The prisoners were kept in cages for months while Aztec priests from what is now Mexico City selected a few each day at dawn" and "Some pregnant women in the group had their unborn babies stabbed inside their bellies as part of the ritual."

[amazinggoatgirl]

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.

Hallucinogenic mushrooms! Wouldn't they just incapacitate you? I would think it would make you less numb to the fact that you were about to be ritualistically slaughtered and consumed. ::shudder::

[laozi]

My thoughts exactly!

[metahara]

Pulque and mushrooms heighten the seratonin level among other things. they both give a sense of Heightened senses. some have relayed experiences of inanimate objects seemn as animate...not moving or walkning and talking necessarily, but able to see the "energy" in objects one wouldn't noramally see without the drug or a lot of sleep deprivation.

[sonnyo]

new meaning to the 'death experience'
when you're heart's ripped out

but i agree & don't think there's real evidence
for that either, or else what is it?

the notion that the light-skinned
were seen as 'returning gods'
seems just narcissistic

[caatinga]

Just out of curiosity, what sort of skeletal trauma can be expected from having one's heart ripped out by a priest? I mean, what does that look like, exactly? It's just so...fucking...cool...

[chiaroscuroman]

To get to the heart, you would need to get the sternum out of the way, which would involve cutting through alot of costal cartilage, and breaking ribs. And owing to the fact that sacrificial blades weren't exactly scalpels and bone saws, there probably would be quite a bit of trauma.