Publication Type:
Journal ArticleSource:
Religion, Volume 11, p.275-297 (1981)Keywords:
Aztecs -- Religion.; Aztecs -- Rites and ceremonies.; History of religionsAbstract:
This article interprets the exciting discoveries at the excavation of the Great Aztec Temple from the perspective of the history of religions. The temple is viewed as an expression of the Aztec "vision of place" which embodied its major cosmological, social and political paradigms and symbols. The article combines evidence from archaeology and written sources to reveal the special dynamics between the Aztec "center" and peripheral city states. These dynamics of conquest and rebellion contributed to the amazing escalation in human sacrifice at the Templo Mayor during the last 90 years of Aztec rule.