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Good thing Cortez conquered aztecs?
miller8966
Posts: 1,452
SOme people are skeptical of cortez and his actions, just look at the Neil Young song "cortez the killer". But i think what he did was actually superb and should be rewarded with a holiday.
ALPULALPAN, Mexico — Skeletons found at an archeological site show that Aztecs captured, sacrificed and partially ate several hundred people traveling with invading Spanish forces in 1520.
The condition of skulls and bones from the Tecuaque site east of Mexico City offers evidence that about 550 victims had their hearts ripped out by Aztec priests in ritual offerings, and were dismembered or had their bones boiled or scraped clean, experts say.
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The findings support accounts of Aztecs capturing and killing a caravan led by Spanish conquistadors in revenge for the murder of Cacamatzin, king of the Aztec city of Texcoco. Experts said the discovery proved that some Aztecs did resist the conquistadors led by Hernan Cortes before they attacked the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan, now Mexico City.
History books say many indigenous Mexicans initially welcomed the white-skinned horsemen, thinking they were returning gods, but turned against them once they tried to take over the Aztec seat of power in a conflict that ended in 1521.
"This is the first place that has so much evidence there was resistance to the conquest," said archeologist Enrique Martinez, director of the dig here. "It shows it wasn't all submission."
The prisoners were kept in cages for months while Aztec priests selected a few each day, cut out their hearts and offered them up to various Aztec gods, Martinez said.
"It was a continuous sacrifice over six months. While the prisoners were listening to their companions being sacrificed, the next ones were being selected," Martinez said, standing in his lab amid boxes of bones, some of young children.
The priests and town elders sometimes ate their victims' hearts or cooked flesh from their arms and legs, Martinez said. Knife cuts and even teeth marks on the bones show which ones had meat stripped off to be eaten, he said.
In Aztec times, the site was called Zultepec, a town of white-stucco temples and homes where 5,000 people grew maize and beans. Upon hearing of the massacre, Cortes renamed the town Tecuaque — "where people were eaten" in the indigenous Nahuatl language — and sent an army to wipe out its people.
When they heard the Spanish were coming, the Zultepec Aztecs threw their victims' possessions down wells, unwittingly preserving buttons and jewelry for archeologists.
"They hid all the evidence," Martinez said. "Thanks to that act, we have been allowed to discover a chapter we were unaware of in the conquest of Mexico."
ALPULALPAN, Mexico — Skeletons found at an archeological site show that Aztecs captured, sacrificed and partially ate several hundred people traveling with invading Spanish forces in 1520.
The condition of skulls and bones from the Tecuaque site east of Mexico City offers evidence that about 550 victims had their hearts ripped out by Aztec priests in ritual offerings, and were dismembered or had their bones boiled or scraped clean, experts say.
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The findings support accounts of Aztecs capturing and killing a caravan led by Spanish conquistadors in revenge for the murder of Cacamatzin, king of the Aztec city of Texcoco. Experts said the discovery proved that some Aztecs did resist the conquistadors led by Hernan Cortes before they attacked the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan, now Mexico City.
History books say many indigenous Mexicans initially welcomed the white-skinned horsemen, thinking they were returning gods, but turned against them once they tried to take over the Aztec seat of power in a conflict that ended in 1521.
"This is the first place that has so much evidence there was resistance to the conquest," said archeologist Enrique Martinez, director of the dig here. "It shows it wasn't all submission."
The prisoners were kept in cages for months while Aztec priests selected a few each day, cut out their hearts and offered them up to various Aztec gods, Martinez said.
"It was a continuous sacrifice over six months. While the prisoners were listening to their companions being sacrificed, the next ones were being selected," Martinez said, standing in his lab amid boxes of bones, some of young children.
The priests and town elders sometimes ate their victims' hearts or cooked flesh from their arms and legs, Martinez said. Knife cuts and even teeth marks on the bones show which ones had meat stripped off to be eaten, he said.
In Aztec times, the site was called Zultepec, a town of white-stucco temples and homes where 5,000 people grew maize and beans. Upon hearing of the massacre, Cortes renamed the town Tecuaque — "where people were eaten" in the indigenous Nahuatl language — and sent an army to wipe out its people.
When they heard the Spanish were coming, the Zultepec Aztecs threw their victims' possessions down wells, unwittingly preserving buttons and jewelry for archeologists.
"They hid all the evidence," Martinez said. "Thanks to that act, we have been allowed to discover a chapter we were unaware of in the conquest of Mexico."
America...the greatest Country in the world.
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Not sure how we would celebrate the grotesque, but you could always write to your congressperson and suggest it. I'll be interested in hearing their reply.
Love,
Kat
cross the river to the eastside
What he did was superb? Wow, I guess you don't know much about pre-hispanic history. I'm guessing you don't know what kind of tortures did Cortés and his followers inflict on the natives. Having the hearts ripped off of a few hundred INVADERS and eaten sounds like nothing in comparison. Specially since for the Aztecs being sacrificed to the gods was an honor (much like killing dirty Muslim terrorists is to some people nowadays).
According to you, what country should celebrate the Cortés day?
Mexico City - July 18th 2003
Mexico City - July 19th 2003
Monterrey - December 7th 2005
Mexico City - December 9th 2005
Mexico City - December 10th 2005
Mexico City - November 24th 2011
The Aztecs had their traditions and rituals which to our culture is barbaric, but what the Spanish did to the Aztecs was deplorable.
http://www.wishlistfoundation.org
Oh my, they dropped the leash.
Morgan Freeman/Clint Eastwood 08' for President!
"Make our day"
R.i.p. My Dad - May 28, 2007
R.i.p. Black Tail (cat) - Sept. 20, 2008
I thought it was the dirty Muslim terrorists who killed innocent people in the hopes of pleasing Allah and going to paradise.
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people beware: u.s. wants mexico. look for civil war in mexico come 9/1. the viewing public will watch an innauguration while there will be death in the street of la ciudad de mexico.....mexico pumps out number 8 in world oil production. forget wars about religion; forget jon bonet and figure that if you are in the way of big machine called progress, you will be consumed as well....smell the coffee.
http://www.victorianweb.org/history/franklin/franklin.html
franklin party cannabilism....article
a derivitive of nature.
nature is god
god is love
love is light
Exactly!
_____________________
06 Leg I~ Continental II
07 Lollapalooza
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a derivitive of nature.
nature is god
god is love
love is light
It means the conquest is being undone.
down with disease.
http://www.myspace.com/brain_of_c
a derivitive of nature.
nature is god
god is love
love is light
naděje umírá poslední
Your posts are so edgy and in my face... so provacative! *yawns*
So, I assume you'll be moving to Mexico in order to petition the government for a national Cortez holiday?
If you stay here, maybe you can push for a holiday commemorating the Trail of Tears.
I'm betting that most people would be down with the idea. Hell, they'd even celebrate a Trail of Tears holiday if it meant a 3 day weekend. "Trail of Tears Day" would probably have to be renamed, though. We'd need something less "downer". "The Day Commemorating the Magical Westward Indian Journey", perhaps.
I do like your happy-feel good name for the new holiday. :cool:
http://www.wishlistfoundation.org
Oh my, they dropped the leash.
Morgan Freeman/Clint Eastwood 08' for President!
"Make our day"
A bit much? Do you know what Hernán Cortés and the Spanish crown did to the tens of civilizations that lived in what now is known as Mexico? What they did to all those people even after the territory was invaded and the people put into servitude? The inquisition? How they stole the land of it's natural ressources and treasures? Sure, the Aztecs were at war with many other civilizations... just like the native americans at the north. That doesn't justify the slaughter the conquistadores inflicted.
Yes, you are right... A national holiday may be "a bit" too much.
Mexico City - July 18th 2003
Mexico City - July 19th 2003
Monterrey - December 7th 2005
Mexico City - December 9th 2005
Mexico City - December 10th 2005
Mexico City - November 24th 2011
Yes, I am aware, and I wasn't justifying the Spanish actions in Mexico.
Ok, cool. Sorry if i got a little bit too carried away
Mexico City - July 18th 2003
Mexico City - July 19th 2003
Monterrey - December 7th 2005
Mexico City - December 9th 2005
Mexico City - December 10th 2005
Mexico City - November 24th 2011
Cortez is the man though..you gotta give the man props.
Props for what? Conquering a pathetically weaker enemy? Killing his wife? Constantly begging pathetic politicians for money? Wow, what an accomplishment.
Yep. We got a great Neil Young album out of it. :rolleyes: