Why do aztecs sacrifice humans

Also, as hard as it is to imagine, many captured soldiers, slaves and Aztec citizens went willingly to the sacrificial altar. The nature of warfare during the height of Aztec power was also unique.

By the late 15th century, the Aztecs had won control over large swaths of central and southern Mexico. The only remaining holdout was the neighboring city-state of Tlaxcala to the east. An Aztec priest removing a man's heart during a sacrificial ritual, offering it to the god Huitzilopochtli. Verano says that these battles provided an important venue for young Aztec warriors to gain social status by bringing home a gaggle of captives, some of whom would ultimately be sacrificed.

Sixteenth-century illustrations depict body parts being cooked in large pots and archeologists have identified telltale butcher marks on the bones of human remains in Aztec sites around Mexico City. Imperialism not only directly expanded the power of the state, but also fed the economy through the increasing influx of tribute into the city. In fact, tribute was a crucial element of the Aztec economy that greatly influenced patterns of imperial expansion.

Military expeditions targeted resource-heavy regions Wolf , and religious leaders con- sidered members of the ethnic groups inhabiting those regions to be especially desirable for sacrifice, while other ethnic groups were wholly unfit Wolf One might object that the goals of feeding the sun and glorifying the state are too abstract to serve by themselves as sufficient motivation for individual warriors. The warriors personally handed over their captives when the day for sacrifice came, and after the captive was slain, the captor took part of the body for a ceremonial feast in which family and friends celebrated his rise in social status Conrad and Demarest Correspondingly, given such a militaris- tic ideology, a warrior had little incentive to restrain himself in battle.

While people who died of natural causes had only the gloomy under- world to look forward to, men who died in war, as well as women who died in childbirth producing warriors and even sacrificial victims tak- en in battle, had the promise of a glorious afterlife in the entourage of the sun Berdan — Rappaport argues that effective ritual does not require that all of the participants share the same view of the ritual or even participate with any sincerity , and Bell asserts in Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice that the ambiguity of ritual is actually essential to its success So in the case of the Aztecs, the lack of one single motivational factor for capturing sacrificial victims in battle is not a weakness, but a strength.

Some warriors might see capturing enemy soldiers as an opportunity to gain honor and serve as a useful member of society; others might see it as a way to acquire power and wealth; still others as a means of expressing their devotion to the gods. For most individuals, it was probably a combination of the above factors and possibly others I have not mentioned.

Sacrifice could be fully effective regardless of whether the warriors really believed that the blood of their captives would keep the sun alive, because the power of ritual comes not in simply instilling belief, but in the performance of the ritual itself Bell — Regardless of what factors may have prompted specific warriors to accept the dangerous proposition that human sacrifice was a goal worthy of pursuit, their acceptance of the ritual furthered the cause of imperial expansion.

This may have been the case in the Mediterranean world, but it is obviously inconsistent with Mesoamerican history; the Aztecs had a very strict and effective judicial system Berdan 96—97 , and sacrifice only inten-sified as the central authority of the state increased.

Rather, it was skillfully crafted political ritual in that it used ancient Mesoamerican symbols and practices but modified them in a way that created a new era and claimed a special place for the ruling elite that instituted the ritual Bell The Aztec practice of mass human sacrifice was a modern innovation that integrated individual and collective religious, political, economic, and social goals in order to take advantage of new imperial opportunities by rendering expansion as of upmost necessity.

Berdan, Frances. Brown, Kathyrn and Travis Stanton. The vast majority of people were destined for a place called Mictlan after they died, which is not exactly hell, but is a nonetheless dark, damp and unpleasant place, where you would have to endure low-grade suffering for eternity.

But if you were a man who died in sacrifice, first you would accompany the sun for four years, leading and heralding the gods in a glorious way. Then, you would go off to become a hummingbird or a butterfly that dances in the sun and sips nectar. The sources suggest that in paradise, you would live drunk, oblivious to the cares of the world.

You can see why that might seem an appealing option. In reality, the likelihood is that while some people faced the prospect of being sacrificed by exalting their cities, praising the gods and bravely accepting their fate as a warrior, other people were dragged kicking and screaming.

Sign in. Back to Main menu Virtual events Masterclasses. A selection of her answers have been transcribed and edited for clarity, and are shared below… Advertisement. We know that if you were born with a double cowlick — those flicks that make your hair go going the wrong direction — then you were destined to become a sacrificial victim.

It's very notable that those children were not sacrificed in the city, but were taken into the mountains to be sacrificed in a lake. By Reuters Fact Check. Claims that the Aztecs or the Mexica sacrificed their own leaders have no basis, experts say. A popular allegation online says they did so in times of pandemic or famine, but there is no evidence that they sacrificed their leaders at all or that they immolated anyone in times of disease.

It is not clear if the meme is referring to the Aztecs or the Mexica.