Human sacrifice was a common practice in many parts of Mesoamerica. The rite was not new to the Aztecs when they arrived at the Valley of Mexico, nor was it something unique to pre-Columbian Mexico. O
Human sacrifice as shown in the Codex Magliabechiano, Folio 70. Heart-extraction was viewed as a means of liberating the Istli and reuniting it with the sun: the victim's transformed heart flies to the sun on a trail of blood.
A jaguar-shaped cuauhxicalli in the National Museum of Anthropology. This altar-like stone vessel was used to hold the hearts of sacrificial victims. See also chacmool.
A tzompantli, or skull rack, as shown in the post-Conquest Codex Tovar
Decapitated ball player
During the pre-Columbian era, human sacrifice in Maya culture was the ritual offering of nourishment to the gods. Blood was viewed as a potent source of nourishment for the Maya deities, and the sacri
Human sacrifice in Aztec culture
…of the region. However, the extent of human sacrifice is unknown among several Mesoamerican civilizations. What distinguished Aztec practice from Maya human sacrifice was the way in which it was embedded in everyday life. Around 1521, when the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan fell to Hernán Cortés's troops, Cortés and…
Sculpture in the Great Ballcourt at Chichen Itza depicting sacrifice by decapitation. The figure at left holds the severed head of the figure at right, who spouts blood in the form of serpents from his neck
Lintel 24 from the city of Yaxchilan. The sculpture depicts a sacred blood-letting ritual which took place on October 28, 709. King Itzamnaaj B'alam II is shown holding a torch, while his wife Lady Xoc draws a barbed rope through her pierced tongue, British Museum.
Classic period Maya vessel with a scene of human sacrifice
A section of page 76 of the Madrid Codex, depicting sacrifice by heart extraction