What Was The Reason Behind The Beliefs Of The Aztecs

The ancient history of the Aztecs was written by Spaniards chroniclers and researched by many archaeologists (Aguade & Lory, 1997). More insight about the daily lives of the Aztecs was uncovered with the help of more research. The Aztecs, also known as the Tenochca were located in Latin America (Aveni el at. 1988). The historical findings show the reasons behind the rituals and politics. This paper will be discussing how the Aztecs created their cities and what their religious beliefs were. The Aztecs practiced human sacrifices and sometimes cannibalism as a religious belief (Anawalt, 1982). The custom of human sacrifices has been seen throughout the history of many cultures (Winkelman, 2013). Humans were used as an offering to the gods in many rituals. People like the Aztecs were very religious individuals and they wanted to give their gods anything they could provide. There could be a variety of reasons why human sacrifices are made like religious reasons or

They left behind many beautiful architectures and artifacts. Many researchers have gone to these sites to learn more about the Aztecs history. Most of the research done proves that the Aztecs made human sacrifices. Aveni el at. (1988) cover the meaning behind the Aztec architecture. They discuss if the study of astronomy had any influence on the architectural layout of the buildings such as Templo Mayor. Isendahl and Smith (2012) go more in depth about the layout of the city. Their research mentions that the city layout was determined by the ranking of the people. At the these buildings, many artifacts were found. Gómez et al. (2014) found copal substance on the artifacts discovered at the temples. In their research, they describe how the use of copal played a big role in the rituals and spiritual artifacts. Most of the artifacts were used in the religious ceremonies. In these ceremonies, human sacrifices were made to the gods and then served as food.