Cover photo: Depiction of a tzompantli (“skull rack”), right half of image; associated with the depiction of Aztec temple dedicated to the deity Huitzilopochtli. From the 1587 Aztec manuscript, the Codex Tovar : a historical Mesoamerican manuscript from the late 16th century written by the Jesuit Juan de Tovar and illustrated by Aztec painters, entitled “Historia de la benida de los Yndios a poblar a Mexico de las partes remotas de Occidente” (History of the arrival of the Indians to populate Mexico from the remote regions of the West).

Text by Ilias Anagnostakis.

The “Huey Tzompantli” was the colossal skull rack located in the central square of Tenochtitlan, in front of the giant temple of Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc. It was an immense construction, standing on a marble base, with a length of sixty meters and a width of thirty. It consisted of thirty wooden beams, each eight meters high, intersected by dozens of parallel beams, upon which hung tens of thousands of human skulls(!), all belonging to victims of the countless and continuous sacrifices by the fanatical, almost insane, Mexica people to their bloodthirsty Gods.

Immediately after the human sacrifice, while the victim’s heart still pulsated in the hands of the priests, the head was severed with a well-aimed blow from a “Macuahuitl” (a hybrid sword-club with sharp obsidian blades – though there were also axes made of obsidian), and the headless body was kicked down the… one hundred and forty steps of the temple, where specialized butchers awaited, cutting off the hands and feet (distributed to warriors and nobles to be eaten with hot tortillas with chili and pepper – even common people ate them during “good baking” periods).

At the same time the torso with entrails was thrown to the zoo animals, ranging from jaguars to… rattlesnakes, and, of course, they were never left… dissatisfied. In the Emperor Moctezuma Xocoyotzin’s menu, alongside a hundred dishes of turkeys, deer, sea turtles, roasted iguanas, Pacific fish, ducks, pheasants, and other exotic items, there was also a gourmet dish of “boiled feet and hands of freshly sacrificed youth,” as mentioned by the indomitable Diaz¹ (presumably a dish of the moment). On special occasions, such as the sacrifices to the mad and eccentric God Xipe Totec, the priests dressed entirely(!) in the flayed skin of the sacrificed victims, from head to… feet, as the Mexica tanners were truly “masters.”

The “production” of severed heads was so extensive that the “Huey Tzompantli” constantly expanded to “accommodate” more heads. Over time, the heads decomposed, leaving only skulls, which, after 70-80 years of rain and sun, disintegrated as well and were immediately replaced (although the Spanish in 1519 found skulls that had been placed in… 1380(!)). In any case, the awe and disgust the Spaniards felt when they first saw it on November 9, 1519, were “beyond imagination.”

The indomitable Diaz reports that he “was convinced he had come to the land where the Devil resides,” while others, mainly young Spaniards, cursed Cortes for “bringing them to Hell,” and many of them vomited as soon as they stood in front of the colossal construction. The worst for the Spaniards had not yet come… Immediately after Cortes escaped from Tenochtitlan with 488 men and 23 horses on June 30, 1520, leaving behind 812 men and 67 horses dead, the Aztecs cut the heads of many, as well as horses, and created an improvised “Tzompantli” only for… Spaniards, while the headless bodies of many of the eight hundred Spaniards were thrown to the… rattlesnakes and other reptiles in the Mexica temples.

On June 15, 1521, during the fierce battles in Tenochtitlan, between 920 Spaniards, 50,000 Indian allies, and 200,000 Mexicas, the Aztecs managed to capture 68 Spaniards and eight horses, sacrificing them all in the grand Temple of Huitzilopochtli. Their severed hands and feet were distributed to all subjugated Indian allies of the Aztecs (Tlaltecuhtli, Huitzilopochtli), and were eaten with “chili and peppers,” while the severed heads of the Spaniards and their horses were placed on the colossal Tzompantli.

Their faces, with the beards still intact, were skinned, tanned, and turned into gloves, worn by the noble Mexicas. Needless to say, when the Spaniards entered the temple platform and recognized the faces of their unfortunate comrades, they demolished the entire structure “with axes and machetes,” as Diaz reports. Enraged, Cortes ordered that any captured priests be slaughtered “with machetes and swords,” while all high priests were to be hanged. As for the Supreme High Priest, Tecuhuetzin, or “Key-holder of the House of Darkness,” he was thrown to the… dogs of the Spaniards, who “tore him apart”².

However one takes it, it was a hot summer in 1521… In the photos, there are depictions of the giant “Huey Tzompantli,” a modern representation of it (including Spanish heads), and an illustration of the “Spanish” Tzompantli, based on eyewitness accounts.

1. “Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España” ↩︎
2. “The Broken Spears: The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico”, p. 176 ↩︎