Human sacrifice: Difference between revisions

Michael Harner, in his 1997 article ''The Enigma of Aztec Sacrifice'', estimates the number of persons sacrificed in central Mexico in the 15th&nbsp;century as high as 250,000&nbsp;per year. [[Fernando de Alva Cortés Ixtlilxochitl]], a Mexica descendant and the author of ''[[Codex Ixtlilxochitl]]'', claimed that one in five children of the Mexica subjects was killed annually. [[Victor Davis Hanson]] argues that an estimate by Carlos Zumárraga of 20,000&nbsp;per annum is more plausible. Other scholars believe that, since the Aztecs always tried to intimidate their enemies, it is far more likely that they inflated the official number as a [[propaganda]] tool.<ref>{{citation |last=Duverger |title=op. cit. |pages=174–177}}{{full citation needed|date=September 2021}} "Duverger, (op. cit) 174–77"</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=New chamber confirms culture entrenched in human sacrifice |publisher=Mtintouch.net |url=http://www.mtintouch.net/~nlight/mexican%20pyramid.htm |access-date=2010-05-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081206150349/http://www.mtintouch.net/~nlight/mexican%20pyramid.htm |archive-date=2008-12-06 }}</ref>

 

[[File:Mound 72 sacrifice ceremony HRoe 2013.jpg|thumb|Mound 72&nbsp;mass sacrifice of 53&nbsp;young women]]

[[File:Funeral procession of Serpent Pique du Pratz.jpg|thumb|upright|The funeral procession of ''Tattooed Serpent'' in 1725, with retainers waiting to be sacrificed]]