Conquistadors Sacrificed and Cannabilized in Aztec-Era Mexico

9/20/2024

By M.P. Pellicer | Stranger Than Fiction Stories
A year after Hernando Cortes conquered Mexico, the Acolhuas part of the Aztec empire, ambushed a Spanish convoy, killing and eating the captives.

The Aztecs sacrificed a Spanish convoy including men, women and children

In 2015, archaeologists spoke of a discovery unearthed in 1992, near Mexico City providing proof that conquistadors, women, children and animals were held captives, and eventually sacrificed and eaten by Mexican natives, known as Texcocanos or Acolhuas.

The excavations at the site were done between 1992 and 2010.

The event was chronicled by Cortes in his Cartas de relación (Related letters), but this discovery confirms that within only a few miles from the aid of the Spanish army, the group was captured.

Sent from Cuba, the convoy included 15 Spaniards, 45 soldiers, 50 women, 10 children and 350 indigenous allies. Among them was a contingent of Afro-Caribbeans, Taino Indians and mulattos. The number has been estimated to be as high as 550, and the Acolhuas decimated them from June, 1520 to March, 1521. They rebuilt Tenochtitlan, east of the capital, to hold the prisoners for the 6 months of their imprisonment.

Skeletons from the Zultepec-Tecoaque site that belonged to members of a Spanish-led convoy from Cuba who were used in sacrificial rituals (Source - Enrique Martinez)

An archaeologist at the site said the priest would choose a victim every few days, and kill them in the town square, where their companions could hear their screams. Like cattle they were fattened while alive. They were sacrificed to the snake-like fertility god Quetzalcoatl, the jaguar god Tezcatlipoca and Huitzilopochtli the warrior god. Each one would be satiated with different sacrifices. For example rain deities preferred children.

It might be said they were given over to appease gods, but there is no denying there was sadism underlying the priests' actions.

Fifteen thousand artifacts were found including figurines with European-looking garb. The archaeologist said, "We have figurines of blacks, and of Europeans that were then intentionally decapitated."

Aztec sacrificial altar, with relief emblem depicting blood and sacrifice. It was dedicated to Ehecatl, the god of wind

Another small sculpture resembled "something not quite human, and instead it has an angel's face on one side and a demon with goat horns on the other."

The captives' skeletons showed cuts where they were de-fleshed, and the horses as well. There was evidence they were torn apart. The meat was consumed by the Alcohuas.

Other bones were made into a rack which Cortes found later when he arrived to avenge the savage act.

Another instance of their disturbing behavior was when the pelvis of a sacrificed woman, who had been dismembered in the plaza had the skull of a one-year-old child placed within it.

Ironically, the pigs were spared a public execution since they had never been seen by the natives. The archaeologists said they "were sacrificed and hidden in a well, but there is no evidence they were cooked." They were whole and uneaten.

Dismembered bodies of women 'warriors' and toddlers were found at Zultepec. Pictured is the skull of a Spaniard (bottom left) a child (centre) and a person of African heritage, alongside models of a Spanish conquistador and a person of mixed Amerindian and African descent

When Cortes arrived with soldiers, the Acolhuas' attempt to hide evidence of what they had done to the captives. This effort helped to preserve them until they were unearthed.

They tossed the belongings of the victims into rooms and cisterns. More than 200 objects were recovered in 13 cisterns, which measured about 4 feet in diameter. Among them was a riding spur, a brooch, rings, iron nails and ceramic figurines.

Also found was a throne made from tezontle volcanic rock, and a cylindrical stone carved with the image of the Aztec god Ometochtli known as "Two Rabbit", which was associated with pulque and drunkenness. It was represented by a rabbit.

Pulque, an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented sap of the maguey plant, was produced in large quantities at Zultépec-Tecoaque. One of the cisterns also contained pulque carafes, and the cooked vertebrae and ribs of at least three different infants.

The Alcohuas abandoned the town, and the Spanish troops razed it. Afterward it was renamed to Tecoaque which translates to: "The place where they ate them."

When Captain Gonzalo de Sandoval arrived at Zultépec with 15 horsemen and 200 soldiers, the terrible fate of the caravan became known. On a wall he read where someone wrote in charcoal: “Here the unlucky Juan Yuste was held prisoner.”

His description continued:

In this town much blood was spilled from the Spaniards killed there. Walls were splattered with it, as were their idols. There were two skinned faces, and their skins were tanned as if to make gloves of them. Their beards were still attached and offered on one of their altars. Also found were the skins of horses that were cured. They still had the hair, hooves and tails. These were also offered to their idols. The clothing these dead Spaniards had worn were offered to these same idols.

Excavations from Zultepec found disfigured bodies of pregnant females whose heads were made into skull racks. The inhabitants of the town tried to hide all remains of the Spaniards by tossing them in shallow wells and abandoned the town when Spanish troops later arrived

Ironically the Aztecs believed Hernan Cortes was the god Quetzalcoatl, and his accompanying conquistadores were gods as well.

The impact of the Spaniards on the Aztec or Natuatl people was chronicled by a Franciscan friar, Bernardino de Sahagún who created the Florentine Codex he started in 1545. He added to it until his death in 1590. It included 2,400 pages and more than 2,000 images.

By the time Cortes arrived in Mexico, the Aztecs had come to rule over 500 small states and some 5 to 6 million people.

The Aztec were conquered due to a combination of reasons. One of them was their belief the conquerors were gods, and ignorant of the weapons they used. Also they were oppressive rulers, who were resented by local groups for the high tributes they exacted. Many of the other natives joined forces with the Spaniards.

Part of the tributes exacted by the Aztecs were victims who were flayed, burned and had their hearts extracted while alive. Those who joined the Spanish, might have had misgivings about the tall, fair strangers, but no doubt they were searching for a way to end the torment of being put to death so savagely in a culture of death and violence that claimed victims daily. Existence as scapegoats used to appease always-hungry gods, must have been difficult. Life was not tranquil before the arrival of the conquistadors.

Temple excavated at Calixtlahuaca c.1930. The sacrifical altar is indicated.

The Spanish priests who accompanied Cortés on his conquest described how prisoners captured by the Aztecs on some occasions were forced to dance during a ritual before they were later decapitated and dismembered.

The Spaniards were not saints, but within ten years of their conquest human sacrifice had ended.

One could admire the artwork the Aztecs produced with eagles, snakes and gods, but it's hard to overlook when they adorned altars where humans were sacrificed. However the gods did continue to receive their tribute when many natives died from smallpox brought from Europe, and the effects of colonization.

Ironically by the time the Spanish laid siege on the Aztec capital, the Acolhuas were allies of Spain. In 1521, the empire fell to the Conquistadores. The Aztec culture would eventually be wiped out, and all the sacrifices made to avoid drought, pestilence and defeat proved insufficient.