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Ritual Human Sacrifice Among the Tarascans of West Mexico

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Ritual Human Sacrifice in Mesoamerica

Part of the book series: Conflict, Environment, and Social Complexity ((CESC))

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Abstract

This chapter reports on evidence of large-scale ritual violence recovered at Tzintzuntzan, Michoacán, the Postclassic (1300–1522 A.D.) Tarascan civic ceremonial capital. To supply context, background on the Tarascans and the history of archaeological investigations at Tzintzuntzan are presented. Data are then furnished on a cache of human remains excavated in 1992 and 2011 from a large osteological deposit in the northwestern section of the Great Platform at Tzintzuntzan. The cache is comprised mainly of cranial fragments (N = 194, MNI = 40) and long bones, mainly femora. Nineteen of the 194 skull fragments show multiple perimortem cut marks. The pattern of cut marks suggests the process of defleshing the skulls. Finally, ethnohistoric evidence of post-sacrificial body treatments such as human trophy taking is presented and related to the archaeological data. The archaeological evidence recovered at the Great Platform provides a rough estimate of the scale and importance of ritual human sacrifice in Postclassic Tarascan culture.

here sacrifices are continuous, and the blood never dries.

Jerónimo de Alcalá’s La Relación de Michoacán.

(cf.,2008 [1541]:111 f.110)

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH) and Dr. Jasinto Robles the director at Centro INAH Michoacán for his help and support. Thank you to Dr. Olga Landa who played an important role in the recovery of the osteological remains and in the development and institution of the Osteology Laboratory at the regional center at Centro INAH Morelia. We extend our gratitude to physical anthropologist Humberto Quiroz and INAH-Centro Morelia for providing accounts of his experience at the site and sharing images of the excavation profiles. Thank you to Dr. Helen Pollard for providing details about your experience at the site. We appreciate Dr. Helen P. Pollard and Dr. Amy Hirshman for taking the time to review the various drafts of this manuscript and for their insightful comments and suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY, USA

    Cinthia M. Campos-Hernández

  2. Centro INAH Michoacán, Av Francisco I. Madero Ote 369, Centro histórico de Morelia, Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico

    José Luis Punzo-Díaz & Carlos Karam Tapia

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  1. Cinthia M. Campos-Hernández
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  2. José Luis Punzo-Díaz
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Correspondence to José Luis Punzo-Díaz or Carlos Karam Tapia .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. California State University, Seaside, CA, USA

    Rubén G. Mendoza

  2. Independent Scholar, Castle Rock, CO, USA

    Linda Hansen

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Campos-Hernández, C.M., Punzo-Díaz, J.L., Tapia, C.K. (2024). Ritual Human Sacrifice Among the Tarascans of West Mexico. In: Mendoza, R.G., Hansen, L. (eds) Ritual Human Sacrifice in Mesoamerica. Conflict, Environment, and Social Complexity. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-36600-0_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-36600-0_3

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