Tzompantli
A "tzompantli" is a structure of wooden poles on which were impaled the human skulls of victims sacrificed in Mesoamerica.
Origin of the word
Etymologically , the term Nahuatl is composed of "Tzom" (skull) and "Pantli" (wall).
Description
Between rows of piles were set on poles which are threaded through the temples of the skulls of victims. There was another version, more common in Maya , where the skulls were strung on poles vertical.
We find representations in various codices of XVI century , including a miniature version of the famous front page of the Codex Mendoza , which probably represents symbolically tzompantli principal ceremonial center of Tenochtitlan , the Templo Mayor.
Bernardino de Sahagun gives us a curious example, with a picture in the manuscript : during the conquest of Tenochtitlan by the Spaniards , the Aztecs , who captured Spanish soldiers and horses , and the sacrifice "[...] when they were sacrificed, then they have slipped over the heads of the rods of the Spaniards, they were also stung the horses' heads. Downstairs they have invested, and the heads of the Spaniards they have made above. ". [1]
It was also found on several Mesoamerican archaeological reliefs representing Tzompantli, including the site Aztec 's Templo Mayor and the Maya of Chichn Itz.
(1 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5, rated)
Loading ...