Mexican archeologists uncover child sacrifice to war god

[dacoffey]

<!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/20050722-1313-mexico-childsacrifice.html">www.signonsandiego.com/ne...ifice.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--> <p></p><i></i>

[ZeroHaven]

"We hope to change a bit the concept of sacrifice ..."<br><br>There's a quote to take home!<br><br>Throughout human history, people have killed their own in order to appease some higher power. Strange how it's considered a 'no no' nowadays. Maybe it's because our 'higher powers' do the killing for us? <p><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>.o0O0o.<br>[s]I need more tin foil for my hat.[/s]<br>I need more Velostat™ for my hat.</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--></p><i></i>

[human]

ever since i was a kid, this is the same BS you ehar over and over again....<br><br>now, i wouldnt be suprised to find out that towards the last days of their reign, the Aztecs performed some human sacrifices...... but im sure it pales in comparison to what goes on right now..... or it looks retarded in comparison to what the Spanish came here and did...<br><br>total whitewashing of history, basically at this point it seems to be so you are scarede shitless of mexicans coming across the border... and so we can all feel good about eliminating those pesky savage natives from this great land...<br><br>and also so you dont sit back for a second and think... if Mayan civilization was on par, or maybe more advanced, than that of Europe at a similar time period, how can we possibly justify even being here at all????<br><br><br>take the Native Americans slaughtered by sword & disease & add it with the # of Africans dead during the slave trade, and then mix in the poor white/european immigrants who died during it all.... we end up with a hemisphere founded on the blood of innocents, which i would contend, was ritual sacrifice on a level that makes Aztec sacrifice practically irrelevent.<br><br><br>racist history IMO.<br><br>one<br>human?<br><br> <p></p><i></i>

[maggrwaggr]

It's been well documented since day one that the Aztecs performed human sacrifices regularly, and often.<br><br>Just because it doesn't fit in with your view of the world doesn't mean it didn't happen.<br><br>Read "The Conquest of New Spain" which was written by one of Cortez's own footsoldiers, Bernal Diaz. It might be quite educational for you.<br> <p></p><i></i>

[Sonic G]

"which was written by one of Cortez's own footsoldiers"<br>Certainly he didn't have an agenda to push, now did he? Godless pagans! They deserved what they got! <p></p><i></i>

[lilorphant]

The history of human sacrifice is written by conquerors and missionaries, so the reasons, beliefs, or ideas attached to the sacrifce are long gone.<br><br>I also think there is a lesson that we are missing from this absence of perspective.<br><br>Why would people choose to make a human sacrifice of children? As a woman and mother, what would be the extreme circumstances that would bring about the mentality where sacrifice is acceptable? <br><br>The survival of siblings, and the community as a whole.The closest thing we can approximate, for practical purposes, is abortion, or child abandonment, but the pilgrims themselves reduce their population growth rate by half (suspiciously) and child expiration was a common form of population control during the first half of our countries growth. <br><br>Given a lack of any other chemical means of population control, expiration would have been the commonest means of population control in primitive cultures. It is easy to imagine the grief and mourning that would have been associated with the loss of children that the community would not be able to sustain (bear in mind the calories required for breatfeeding jump dramatically during the postnatal period). <br><br><br>My guess is that women would have demanded a ritual to pay homage to the child loss, rather than to simply leave in the woods as required. Much of the literature associates famine, or fear of famine with ritual child sacrifice. Are the scholars blind to the practical associations? Children are a caloric expense that fragile communities simply cannot afford. <br> <p></p><i></i>

[hmm]

rated for more historical accuracy than the normal accounts of conquest written by scholars or leaders.<br>Its a long time since i have read it so i cant recall his descriptions of sacrifices, but i do remember it was this book that turned me on to reading military accounts of history and for waking me up to the great differences one can find in them when compared to more sanitised "official" histories.<br> <p></p><i></i>

[ZeroHaven]

<!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>so the reasons, beliefs, or ideas attached to the sacrifce are long gone.<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br>Er, no they're not. There's still plenty of documented reasoning - like in holy books, including the bible. There are still such sacrifices being performed to this day; man, beast, and herb. <br>The concept of burning is based on the delivery of the item. The essence of the burnt item "rises to the heavens" where the god(s) may retrieve it. Sure, throughout history there may have been different purposes and variants on the reasoning, but the basic concept is the same. Tithing directly will make the god(s) happy enough to give you something you want.<br><br><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a239/ZeroHaven/tinhat.gif"/><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--> <p></p><i></i>

[robertdreed]

It's generally agreed upon by archaeological and philological scholars that not only the Aztecs, but the Maya, also made human captive sacrifice one of the cornerstones of their religion. They were warlike, imperial peoples who subjugated the other indigenous tribes of Mesoamerica. There's no serious dispute about that. <p></p><i></i>

[professorpan]

I'll echo robertdreed here -- the evidence for mass sacrifice, by the Aztecs, Mayans, and other Central American socieites is overwhelming. This is not something dreamed up scholars with agendas -- it's written and illustrated by the societies in question.<br><br>I visited a cave in Belize that was used as sacrificial center. The calcified bones of several victims -- one a child, one an adult female -- still witness to their sacrifice.<br><br>Human and animal sacrifice has been part and parcel of religion since the beginning of human history, and still has echoes in the Christian "eucharist" concept, which is symbolic cannibalism. <p></p><i></i>

[maggrwaggr]

He was a disgruntled foot soldier. He watched Cortez get away with riches, while the gold promised him never materialized. <br><br>He wasn't exactly a propagandist for Cortez. The opposite, in fact. <p></p><i></i>

[human]

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em> what are you talking about? It's been well documented since day one that the Aztecs performed human sacrifices regularly, and often.<br><br>Just because it doesn't fit in with your view of the world doesn't mean it didn't happen.<br><br>Read "The Conquest of New Spain" which was written by one of Cortez's own footsoldiers, Bernal Diaz. It might be quite educational for you.</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--><br><br>lol.<br><br>"The Secret Destiny of America" Manly P Hall.<br><br>perhaps YOU might learn something...<br><br>you mean since i view the world with respect... and dont believe the propaganda bullshit put out by establishment Europeans who have time and time again lied about situations in order to justify killing entire races of people...TO THIS VERY DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!<br><br>do you really think ANYTHING came out in print that wasnt first approved by Spanish authorities & the church??? really?? lol....<br><br>the reason why there isnt any argument of these supposed "facts" is because the Spanish killed off more Americans peoples than were ever sacrificed... and thats a fact... <br><br>and if you dont think that the European slaughter of Native Americans WAS A RITUAL SACRIFICE..... well then, youve really missed whats going on... <br><br>one<br>human?<br><br> <p></p><i></i>

[hmm]

anything but racist and that the killing was not a genocide<br>cause i have some specially prepared blankets as a gift for anyone arguing that <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :b --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/tongue.gif ALT=":b"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <br>you are right in talking about scale of violence but still people regardless will be interested in reading about child sacrifices in other times<br><br>i actually quite like this explanation:<br>"Children are a caloric expense that fragile communities simply cannot afford."<br>a simple biological reason.This "animalistic" approach to viewing human behaviour has its benefits? <p></p><i></i>

[professorpan]

Sorry, human, but the facts are against you on this. <br><br>Were the numbers of sacrifices exaggerated by the conquerors? Most likely. But if you argue that the Mayans and Aztecs didn't sacrifice humans, you're closing your eyes to the written codices, the chemical traces linked to blood on temple floors, and the artistic depictions of the practice.<br><br>And bringing in the slaughter of the Native peoples of the Americas has nothing to do with this discussion.<br><br>I'd accept the studies of archaeologists in the field over Manley Hall's fanciful histories any day. <p></p><i></i>

[human]

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em> Sorry, human, but the facts are against you on this.<br><br>Were the numbers of sacrifices exaggerated by the conquerors? Most likely. But if you argue that the Mayans and Aztecs didn't sacrifice humans, you're closing your eyes to the written codices, the chemical traces linked to blood on temple floors, and the artistic depictions of the practice.<br><br>And bringing in the slaughter of the Native peoples of the Americas has nothing to do with this discussion.<br><br>I'd accept the studies of archaeologists in the field over Manley Hall's fanciful histories any day.</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--><br><br>at no point did i say human sacrifices didnt occur.<br><br>what i said is that they are statistically insignifigant when compared to the European peoples ritual sacrifice s of Native peoples....<br><br>so no, the facts arent actually against me at all...<br><br>the slaughter of Native American people has EVERYTHING to do with this discussion....<br><br>why is it that human sacrifice is the accepted norm for the Aztec & Maya, yet whenever it is brought to the surface in modern western culture, it is ignored like it doesnt happen?????<br><br>that is my point.<br><br>it is propaganda, so you consider these people savages, and can jusify in your head the ritual massacre of entire nations.....<br><br>as for Manly P Hall, id say his info is a bit more reliable than a Cortez foot soldier anyday... lol..<br><br><br><br>i love it how all of a sudden a bunch of yall are defending Spanish Conquistadors, Luciferians of the highest degree.... lol... bizarro world for sure...<br><br>one<br>human? <p></p><i></i>