What Did the Sacrificed Subjects Eat? A Stable Isotope Study of Individuals Sacrificed by the Aztecs during the Late Postclassic period

Author(s): Diana Moreiras Reynaga

Year: 2016

Summary

This poster introduces my doctoral research project which entails a stable isotope analysis of human sacrificial subjects recovered from the Aztec capital city of Tenochtitlan and its sister city Tlatelolco (present-day Mexico City) dating to the Late Postclassic period (A.D. 1400 — 1519). The collections include adult and subadult sacrificed individuals from the Templo Mayor and Templo R. This research focuses on expanding our knowledge about dietary and mobility patterns of sacrificial subjects during Aztec times. For the purpose of this poster, I focus particularly on the dietary component of this study by introducing specific research hypotheses and discussing preliminary stable isotopic results in relation to the diets of those who were once offered to the Aztec gods.

Cite this Record

What Did the Sacrificed Subjects Eat? A Stable Isotope Study of Individuals Sacrificed by the Aztecs during the Late Postclassic period. Diana Moreiras Reynaga. Presented at The 81st Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Orlando, Florida. 2016 ( tDAR id: 404884)

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Keywords

General
Ancient Diets • Aztec Sacrificial Offerings • stable isotope analysis

Geographic Keywords
Mesoamerica

Spatial Coverage

min long: -107.271; min lat: 12.383 ; max long: -86.353; max lat: 23.08 ;