Aztec Bloodletting

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Bloodletting
Bloodletting was a very important and necessary act that had to happen in Mesoamerica to try and keep a balance between society and the universe. The act of bloodletting was to do a puncture on one's body or self-cut in order to release blood that would serve as an offering to the deities or as punishment or even a form of debt payment. “This practice was usually performed by nobles through the perforation of body parts, mainly, but not only, tongue, lips, and genitals. Both men and women practiced these types of sacrifices” (Nicoletta Maestri). The practice of bloodletting began in the time of the Olmec and dispersed through all of Mesoamerica. In this process only the nobles were able to perform bloodletting procedures because they were high in the hierarchy and they would communicate …show more content…

Many have read about the Aztecs and their form of bloodletting which lead to the death of thousands of individuals. In the article I read that the Aztecs perfected the act of bloodletting, but eventually made the Gods mad due to all the killing. “The Aztecs gained an infamous reputation for bloodthirsty human sacrifice with lurid tales of the beating heart being ripped from the still-conscious victim, decapitation, skinning and dismemberment” (Cartwright). The Aztecs were seen as a vicious civilization because of all the societies they were able to ambush and capture. By doing this they gathered many humans that either were kept as slaves or were sacrificed. In the Mayan civilization, bloodletting was more calm and only done when necessary. “Ritual bloodletting, along with fasting, tobacco smoking and ritual enemas, were pursued by the royal Maya in order to provoke trance-like state and supernatural visions and therefore communicate with dynastic ancestors or underworld gods” (Nicoletta

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