The Sacrificial Artifacts in the Templo Mayor Offerings

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Sacrificial and Autosacrifice Instruments in Mesoamerica: Symbolism and Technology" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The complex Mesoamerican cosmovisión includes myths about the cultures to try to understand, their history, natural events, and their universe, through narrations and fantastic facts, which gave them an explanation about everything that they did not understand. As a consequence of this, the invention of ritual acts that everyone had to participate in, because thanks to the rituals, they stayed alive and obtained the favor of the deities. Rituals were a means of understanding the cognitive systems of Mesoamerican societies. The diversity of existing ritual acts, sacrifice, and autosacrifice served as a means to obtain the precious blood to offer the gods. To offer blood was a commonly a ritual practice in the religious festivities of Mexica society, thus it became part of everyday life. The practice of these rituals is visible in the Templo Mayor offerings. Abundant evidence has been found of the sacrificial and autosacrificial paraphernalia like knives, bone awls, and maguey thorns.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Sacrificial and Autosacrifice Instruments in Mesoamerica: Symbolism and Technology   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39756.0