At least 42 children were sacrificed in Tenochtitlán to appease the wrath of the rain god during a prolonged drought.
The ritual of mass child sacrifice to the rain god in 15th-century Mexico coincided with a severe drought in the region, according to research presented at the “Water and Life” seminar at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, as reported by Live Science on November 15. The remains of at least 42 children aged between 2 and 7 were discovered at the Templo Mayor, the most important temple complex in Tenochtitlán, present-day Mexico City, in 1980 and 1981. The skeletal remains were found lying on their backs with their limbs curled up, placed inside stone boxes on a sandy floor. Some wore jewelry such as necklaces and had jade beads in their mouths.
Skeletal remains at the Templo Mayor. (Photo: INAH).
The new research reveals that the sacrifices likely aimed to end a severe drought in the region by offering tributes to the rain god Tláloc.
“Initially, this city-state attempted to mitigate the impact of the drought by opening royal grain stores to distribute food to the needy, while simultaneously conducting mass child sacrifices at the Templo Mayor to appease the tlaloque, dwarf deities considered assistants to Tláloc,” said archaeologist Leonardo López Luján, director of the Templo Mayor Project of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH). “For some time, they coped with the tragedy in this way, but the prolonged crisis forced the city-state into mass migration.”
To understand why the mass sacrifice occurred, the team of experts from INAH studied geological data along with information from the Mexican Drought Atlas network. They discovered that a major drought struck central Mexico from 1452 to 1454. This drought occurred during the reign of Moctezuma I and coincided with the construction of the Templo Mayor, leading to crop failures, devastating neighborhoods, and forcing impoverished families to sell their children to neighboring towns in exchange for food.
“All data indicates that the drought at the beginning of summer affected the germination, growth, and flowering of plants before the summer solstice, while autumn frost attacked corn crops before harvest. Both phenomena devastated the harvests, leading to prolonged famine,” López Luján explained.
In an effort to alleviate the crisis, the remains of the sacrificed children were sprinkled with blue dye, surrounded by shells and small birds, and encircled by 11 statues made from volcanic stone. The statues resembled the face of Tláloc, the Aztec god symbolizing rain, water, and fertility.
