Aztec Sacrifice

The Aztec civilization that flourished in Mesoamerica between 1345 and 1521 CE has gained an infamous reputation for bloodthirsty human sacrifice with striking tales of beating hearts being ripped from still-conscious victims, decapitation, skinning, and dismemberment. All of these things did happen but it is important to remember that for the Aztecs the act of sacrifice — of which human sacrifice was only a part — was a strictly ritualized process that gave the highest possible honor to the gods and was regarded as a necessity to ensure mankind’s continued prosperity.

Origins and Purpose

The Aztecs were not the first civilization in Mesoamerica to practice human sacrifice. It was probably the Olmec civilization (1200-300 BCE) that first began such rituals atop their sacred pyramids. Other civilizations such as the Maya and Toltec continued the practice. The Aztecs did, however, take sacrifice to an unprecedented scale — although early chroniclers undoubtedly exaggerated that scale during the Spanish Conquest, probably to vindicate the Spaniards’ own brutal treatment of indigenous peoples. Nevertheless, it is thought that hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of victims were sacrificed each year at the great Aztec religious sites. It cannot be denied that there would also have been a useful secondary effect of these sacrifices intimidating visiting ambassadors and the populace in general.

In Mesoamerican culture, human sacrifices were viewed as repayment for the sacrifices that the gods had themselves made in creating the world and the sun. This idea of repayment was especially true regarding the myth of the reptilian monster Cipactli (or Tlaltecuhtli). The great gods Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca ripped the creature into pieces to create the earth and sky; all other things such as mountains, rivers, and springs came from Cipactli’s various body parts. To console the spirit of Cipactli, the gods promised to appease her with human hearts and blood. From another point of view, sacrifices were compensation to the gods for their own sacrifices made to create mankind. Mythology tells us that Ehecatl-Quetzalcóatl stole bones from the Underworld and used them along with his own blood to make the first humans.

Gods were then “fed” and “nourished” with sacrificed blood and flesh, which ensured the continued balance and prosperity of Aztec society. Sacrifices helped regulate the cycle of growth and death in food, life, and energy. Accordingly, meat was burnt or blood poured over the statues of deities so that the gods might partake of it directly. Perhaps the quintessential example of “feeding” the gods were the ceremonies to ensure Tezcatlipoca, the sun god, was well nourished so that he had the strength to raise the sun each morning.

Non-fatal Sacrifice

Not all sacrifice was lethal. Some common forms included bloodletting and cutting, possibly from the ears or legs using bones or animal spines to make the cuts. Burning blood-soaked paper strips was also a common form of sacrifice, as was the burning of tobacco and incense. Other types of sacrifice included offering other living creatures such as deer, butterflies, hummingbirds, and snakes. Sometimes sacrifices were about willingly offering precious objects for the gods to enjoy. Priests might sacrifice foodstuffs and objects of precious metals, jade, and shells, which might be ritually buried. Some of the most interesting such offerings were dough images of gods. These were made from ground amaranth mixed with human blood and honey, with the effigy being burnt or eaten after the ritual.  

Selection and Preparation of Victims

With human sacrifices, the sacrificial victims were most often selected from captive warriors. Indeed, warfare was often conducted for the sole purpose of furnishing candidates for sacrifice. Aztecs often engaged in wars just to take a sufficient number of captives for sacrificial purposes. The eastern Tlaxcala state was a favorite hunting ground. Those who had fought the most bravely or were the most handsome were considered the best candidates for sacrifice because they were more likely to please the gods. Indeed, human sacrifice considered a high honor, a direct communion with a god.

Another source of sacrificial victims was the ritual ball games where the losing captain or even the entire team paid the ultimate price for defeat. Children too could be sacrificed — in particular, to honor the rain god Tlaloc in ceremonies held on sacred mountains. It was believed that the very tears of the child victims would propitiate rain. Slaves were another social group from which sacrificial victims were chosen; they could accompany their ruler in death or be given in offering by tradesmen to ensure prosperity in business.
 

Among the most honored sacrificial victims were the god impersonators. Specially chosen individuals were dressed as a particular god before the sacrifice. The Tezcatlipoca impersonator was treated like royalty for one year prior to the sacrificial ceremony. The victim was the god’s manifestation on earth until that final brutal moment of the Tóxcatl ritual when he met his maker, and until then was tutored by priests, given a female entourage, and honored with dances and flowers. Perhaps even worse off was the impersonator of Xipe Totec who, at the climax of the festival of Tlacaxipehualiztli, was skinned to honor the god who was himself known as the “Flayed One.”

Ceremonies and Death

Sacrifices were conducted at specially dedicated temples on the top of large pyramids such as at Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan. They were most often carried out by stretching the victim over a special stone, cutting open the chest, and removing the heart using an obsidian or flint knife. The heart was then placed in a stone vessel or in a chacmool (a carved stone figure reclining with a bowl resting on its stomach) and burnt in offering to a god. Alternatively, the victim could be decapitated or dismembered. This method may have been reserved for female victims who impersonated gods such as Chalchiuhtlicue, although images recorded by the Spanish do show decapitated bodies being flung down the steps of pyramids. Those sacrificed to Xipe Totec were also skinned, most probably in imitation of seeds shedding their husks.

Victims could also be sacrificed in a more elaborate process where a single victim was made to fight a gladiatorial contest against a squad of handpicked warriors. Naturally, the victim had no possibility to survive this ordeal or even inflict any injury on his opponents, as he was not only tied to a stone platform, but his weapon was usually a feathered club compared to his opponents’ vicious razor-sharp obsidian swords. In another method, victims could be tied to a frame and shot with arrows or darts. In perhaps the worst method of all, the victim was repeatedly thrown into a fire and then had his heart removed.

After the sacrifice, the heads of victims could be displayed in racks — depictions of this survive in stone architectural decoration, notably at Tenochtitlán. The flesh of those sacrificed was also, on occasion, eaten by the priests conducting the sacrifice and by members of the ruling elite or warriors who had themselves captured the victims.