Dogs often bark for many reasons. While owning a dog at home may be a matter of pride for you, training him to behave well before people is something that you need to consider seriously. If you leave your dog untrained, he may be a source of disturbance for your neighbors, day and night. The dog may bark abruptly at unknown people approaching him and scare them until they go away.
Dogs do understand certain commands and behave accordingly. They stay comfortably in the company of children, known people and strangers, provided they receive training on behavioral techniques. Train your pet animal on when to remain peaceful and when to bark. Take stock of those situations when your dog barks or woofs unusually. Many a time, your dog may bark if you tie him to a leash for long hours with restricted movement.
Dogs are generally popular as human protectors. They watch over each activity going around them round the clock. When they sense anything unusual, they lose control. At such times, they may launch an immediate violent attack causing injury to people approaching them. Keep your dog away from strange noises and disturbing sights. Try spending as much time as you can with your dog by taking him for a stroll in the park.
You may use a collar to stop your dog from barking. This is indeed a nice training tool. However, it may not be of much help particularly when the dog is off the collar. Here, the dog may revert to his yipping. Of late, you can get a dog collar easily as it is one among the many pet dog supplies. A collar is of manual and automatic type. Use an automatic collar that activates through vibrations in your dog's throat.
Likewise, have a manual collar to control your pet physically if it barks unwarrantedly. This collar even helps you to correct your dog and stop him from barking for no reason. Dogs need more attention. Take care of their grooming and personal hygiene, take them for joyrides, familiarize them with people you meet and feed them at the proper time during your dog training.
About the Author
Timcy Hood writes informative and unique articles about dog insurance and dog crates. One thing that separates Timcy Hood from others is the passion she puts into it, knowing full well and respecting the time viewers spend on reading his work.
Advice on dog training
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I recently just got a puppy and I am trying to crate train her. I have this huge crate that she can do a full turn in and she has enough room to spread out in. Every one tells me it is a good thing to crate train them and that the puppy will soon see the crate as her safe spot. Everytime she is in the crate she yalps and wines and won't settle down. I am trying to put her in it for a half an hour everyday. But whenever I hear her yalping and whinning it breaks my heart and I can't stand listening to it, it makes me want to cry and makes me feel like I am abusing her. Is it really mean to be leaving her in a crate if she completely hates it? I would let her run free but I go back to work tomorrow and I do not want her to chew the things I have in my house. Please if anyone has any advice on how to settler her down or if I should not put her in it at all. Thanks
No, it's no abusive at all. Almost every trainer will recommend crate training. When you put her in there, completely ignore her barking and whining. Leave her alone and she will eventually quiet down. If you are trying to sooth her by talking to her from another room or sitting outside the crate to calm her down, she is winning the dominance fight. Even looking at her while she is whining means she is winning and she will continue to cry.
When you do go to let her out, be sure she is being relaxed and quiet, or else she learns that whining a lot means you will let her out. She should learn that she needs to be relaxed to come out into your home. When you let her out, don't acknowledge her, no eye contact, and don't get her excited again, just open the door and let her out. If she is learning that she is the boss over when she comes out of the crate, she will start learning that whining will get her more treats or food, and problems will just escalate from there. If she learns to respect you during these first few weeks, you will have a lot less behavioral problems in the future.
Some cute puppy photos!
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Pet Training - 4 Dog Training Products To Improve Your Pets Behaviour
Dogs are very social animals that love to be around people. However, it is important to train them properly to ensure they behave in public. The last thing you want is your dog distressing a little old lady by pouncing on her or attacking other dogs while taking them for a walk. Now, you have two options that can help you improve your dog's behaviour. You can either hire a dog trainer, which can be expensive, or else purchase dog training aids at a fraction of the cost.
Bark Prevention Collar
A common problem that dog owners have is their dog barking loudly especially, if it is in a built up suburban area. One of the most popular dog training aids to solve this problem is the bark prevention collar. The collar is placed around the dog's neck and when it starts to bark too loud the collar delivers a harmless electric shock that causes a mild irritation to the dog. The dog will quickly learn that barking loudly will result in it getting this shock and this will stop it from barking too loud.
Training Dumbbell
If your breed of dog is a retriever then you can buy a training dumbbell that will help your dog improve their ability to retrieve objects. This also helps dog owners to develop their fetch and retrieve command skills. As their names suggests, retrievers are naturals at this skill however, this type of training can be used on a number of breeds such as the Alsatian and Labrador.
Clicking Device
One of the most effective ways of training your dog to obey your commands is through positive reinforcement with a clicking device. The clicking device is a tiny box that creates a distinct clicking noise when it is pressed by the owner after their dog has obeyed their command. This clicking sound is a signal to the dog that their master is pleased with them. The idea is that the dog will associate the clicking sound with pleasure and therefore, will become more effective at obeying commands.
Relax Spray
Although most dogs are easy to train you can encounter more difficulties in house training a dog that is of a nervous disposition. However, the dog training market has come up with a solution to this problem as well. The dog anxiety spray is a natural and safe dog spray that can help to relax a nervous or anxious dog. These types of sprays are particularly useful if your dog is nervous are scared about going to the vet or a kennel.
About the Author
Tim Bose has been writing articles for over 2 years on subjects he is passionate about. Why not check out his new website at http://contemporarymirrors.org/. The contemporary mirrors guide helps people find the best deals on contemporary mirrors and accessories.
PetSafe Little Dog Spray Bark Control Collar - www.petsafe.net
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[simpleaffiliate source="chitika" results="0"][/simpleaffiliate] Using positive training methods what is the best way to discipline a dog for chewing up stuff?
My 1.5 old dog Harleigh has been responding really well with positive training but occasionally when she feels like I am on the phone too long or not paying her enough attention she chews books and papers up. I don't want to yell at her because it gives her attention that she is looking for but I want a good way to discipline her that is effective so I can save the rest of my paperbacks and bills.
Use a verbal correction, that is fine. I use verbal corrections with my puppy. Just an "ah ah!"
Just give her something else to chew on instead. I like putting some peanut butter in a kong and freezing it. That will take a good hour or two to get out.
Dog Training Books | Get the Right Book for You
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Basic Dog Training Commands: Tips Every Dog-Owner Should Teach
Dog is not only a simple animal .He can be your good friend, your defender and your partner .Similarly you are his teacher .As we all know that Dog is the most faithful animal among all animal kingdom .Proper training should be given to each and every dog by his owner .Once he recognize you as his leader ,than he will follow each and every command given by you to him .By following few Dog Training Commands ,we can convert over dog from simple animal to a well behaved dog .Every owner should make his dog comfortable with these basic Dog training Commands .
Being a dog lover, I observe dogs very closely .I have noticed one thing that mostly dog will get bored if you are teaching them in long sessions .If you try to teach them continuously for around 20-25 minutes, they will get bored and start neglecting your command .So always go for 5-7 minute short sessions to teach him few basic Dog Training Commands .Try to repeat these sessions again and again on same day.
Here we will discuss few basic Dog Training Commands.”Sit” is the most basic command every dog should know .Mostly dogs learn this command very easily and it will make your dog sit at very point when you use this command, “Leash Training “is another important command for all dogs and puppies .Don’t ever try to be harsh with your dog by pulling and dragging him .Let him leash properly and walk with you .Give them proper time to learn this command .Don’t try to scare them or scold them during this training.”Heel “ is another basic Dog Training Command .Dog always feel comfortable while walking beside you .If he start walking in front of you ,you can bring him beside you by using word “Heel “.Don’t pull your puppy if he’s walking forward .Teach this command properly to get good communication with your dog .”Stay” is another important command for safety of your dog .This command will make your dog sit at that position where he is .This command is very important and take few time to get learned by your dog .Another command “come” will make your dog start walking with you if he is in stay position .This is also very good and important command
All the above mention Dog Training Commands are very helpful and must for each and every dog .Don’t take too long sessions and try to make him learn in short sessions. Don’t forget to praise your dog regularly as it will make him feel comfortable with you .Don’t ever give up .Keep one thing in mind that dogs are not human beings .They take some time to learn everything .Be cool, calm and consistent with them .Take proper care of his food when he is in initial stage .Try to make him fearless and well mannered. Try to play few games with him while training session .Love you dog and in return he will give lots of love and respect to you.
About the Author
Get the best professional Dog Training Tips for your pet, and you will have fast result, with your dog. We provide Dog Training Tips so you can learn your dog behavior from home.
Dog training with South African Boerboel Mastiff - Part 1
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There are so many dog training programs online, anyone know of a trust worthy dog training review site?
I have 3 dogs, my youngest Maya a Boxer/Lab is just a terror, I always have to keep an eye on her, the middle child Stella also a Boxer/lab but unrelated is almost the perfect dog except everything scares her and my oldest Mugli a Golden/Lab barks at everything. I need to get these guy's under control any and all help is welcomed.
I highly recommend working with a trainer in person who can help you. I also recommend going to the APDT website and do a trainer search to find one near you.
Heman G. Stark Shelter Dog Training Program
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Home Dog Training: Understanding the Role of Healthy Discipline
Home Dog Training: Understanding the role of healthy discipline
If you have looking for the best free advice when it comes to educational home dog training advice online then you have come to the right place. Our articles are stuffed with free advice that will have you obtaining the very best in healthy home dog training methods available today.
In today's home dog training article we are going to talk about the roles of discipline, dog rewards, and dog punishment. You must first not confuse discipline with a negative connotation. In fact, proper health discipline, which means training one to act in accordance with rules, brings order to everyone's life, including your dog.
Home dog training without discipline, particularly with certain dog breeds, will bring chaos to the atmosphere. And because dogs are like people in that they are social animals, they need some form of discipline in order to function effectively.
When it comes to home dog training and your puppy, he needs to have discipline in his life in order to understand how his pack (you and the rest of your family) functions and how he must act in order to survive. It's a well known fact documented from several surveys that people who practice regular home dog training were more than 70% happier with their pets than people who have never trained their dogs.
Understanding and implementing a decent home dog training program is the core of how well your dog will respond to you and other people and animals. But as always, we would like to touch up on something that we consider important over all and should always be adhered to with your home dog training.
What is it that is so important? It is making sure that you are not using cruel, harsh, and painful home dog training methods to teach your dog the commands you wish. While many people approach home dog training in this manner, in addition to quite a few published books on the subject, it is simply common sense that severe aggression can set in over the long run with using these types of negative-only dog training methods.
Author Name : Linda Kajda Email : pebbles26@comcast.net
Linda Kajda is a freelance writer and an avid dog lover. Her newest book, Schnauzer Secrets, is a'must have' owner's manual for Schnauzer owners. forgreat (dogcare)clickhere
Dog obedience and dog behavior advice FREE
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[simpleaffiliate source="chitika" results="0"][/simpleaffiliate] How do I keep my dog from running away from home every time the door is opened?
I have a 10 month old Miniature Pinscher who is constantly running away from home every time we open the front door. He will even dig his way under the gate in the back yard to get free. I understand Min Pins are extremely curious and care free dogs, but this is just too much. He terrorizes the neighborhood dogs which embarrasses me as his owner. None of the other dogs in the neighborhood even need fences or leashes... I'm the laughing stock of my street because I can't keep my dog in check. What do I do???
Mostly, he is a good dog. He barks an awful lot and runs away, but that's about it. We got him a shock collar about a month ago, but he chewed it off his neck and lost it on his last excursion. Please, if any one knows anything about min pin training, help!! I don't have the money to spend on those videos that help teach you to train your dog.
Keep him on a leash when you open the door. If you have the National Geographic Channel, find and watch The Dog Whisperer. Ceasar Milan fixes this problem quite frequently. Plus, it's a really great show.
New dog training video every day!
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[simpleaffiliate source="chitika" results="0"][/simpleaffiliate] Tom Rose School & Other Professional Training Schools?
Is anyone familiar with the Tom Rose School? I'm interested in attending a professional dog training school (with interest in Schutzhund work). I've heard fantastic things about the Tom Rose School - but I've also heard things about other schools. Has any one attended the TRS, or does anyone know someone who has been there? Are there any other schools you can recommend that offer a professional training program? I've also heard horrible things about the TRS such as the over-use of E-collars, etc. So it makes me a bit unsure..
I recommend getting a dog and joining a local dog training club in the sport of your choice. Find an experienced trainer that 1) you like their results and 2) you are comfortable with their methods and then learn all that you can from them. T
he problem with the "professional dog training schools" is that you really can't learn dog training in a matter of weeks or even months, but must refine techniques on many dogs in many situations over many years. Many methods of dog training (like the Kohler method) are very effective in the hands of the master and those who have spent years observing and perfecting them, but border on ineffective, dangerous, or abusive when used by an amatuer (see: everything that the dog whisperer has ever done, except some of it I would classify as straight up abuse).
Get a dog. Train it. Learn from it. Repeat ad nauseum under the tutelage of "dog people" who have been there longer than you have. When they feel you are ready, teach a class or two of your own. Try to work with a variety of trainers who use different methods that you are comfortable with - put clickers next to targets, prong collars, shaping, treats, toys, body posturing, and bite inhibition techniques in your "training toolbox" and learn when and how to use each of them successfully.
Good luck!
Wonderdogs.bc.ca -- Ben Kersen's School for Dog Training
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Canine Cardiac Disease – How Common Heart Murmurs In Dogs Could Be The Result Of CCD
If your dog gets diagnosed with a common heart murmur problem, it may be a sign of canine cardiac disease.
According to the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine, a heart murmur results from blood flow running through the heart that is abnormal. Some heart murmurs are perfectly normal while others, similar to those heard in aging dogs, may be a sign that some type of heart disease is prevalent. The most common cardiac diseases in dogs include:
1. Congenital birth defects that show up when a puppy is young. 2. Degenerative valve disease (heart valve leaks) that mostly affect older or middle-aged dogs. 3. Loss of heart muscle tissue that is typically seen in young dogs or middle-aged larger dog breeds.
Detecting The Disease
Heart disease may not show up or be detected until it has reached a point where your dog experiences heart failure, collapse, or even sudden death. Your veterinarian can certainly check your dog out for heart murmurs by using a stethoscope. However, as the dog owner, your responsibility is to be on alert for certain signs such as difficulty in breathing, coughing, intolerance to exercise, or a swollen abdomen (caused by fluid retention).
Canine cardiac disease can further be checked for by specific information regarding your dog's breed type, age, chest x-rays, blood pressure measurements, and EKG readings. For a definitive diagnosis, an ultrasound of your dog's heart is required.
Treatment
Treating your dog back to good health will depend entirely upon the stage of the disease and how severely it has affected other parts of the body. If your puppy is young and has a congenital defect, it may be surgically removed.
Heart disease that is acquired later in your dog's life requires heavy lifestyle management and changes in living. Such changes include maintaining a healthy body weight, additional exercise (or reduced activity depending upon your dog's condition), special cardiac diets, and specific medications that can be used to reduce stress put on your dog's heart from his condition.
The prognosis for dogs that have canine heart disease will vary. Some dogs may be fortunate enough to have successful long-term care. Others may have a shorter lifespan ranging from a few weeks to a few years. It is important to keep in mind that the earlier your dog's condition is assessed, the easier it will be to treat and the odds will be greater that your dog or puppy will enjoy a long, healthy life.
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Easy Dog Obedience Training - Dog Training Tricks Review
Easy Do It Yourself Dog training is a good read book that talks about easy dog obedience training and how a simple and highly effective training method can quickly help your dog with any dog behavior problems. If you want to learn how to quickly and easily train your dog, to be well behaved at all times. If you want to quickly solve any behavior problem your dog has, then Sandra Baker’s book is the answer.
Sandra Baker stressed that you can only say that a certain method is effective if you receive positive feedbacks or testimonies from customers who have read and used your book. Indeed, her book received so many testimonies and on how this book has helped them in so many ways.
The Easy Do it Yourself Dog Training package contains: the absolute best ways to conquer potty training, learn how to quickly teach your dog to come, sit, stay, drop, stand and heel, learn the 3 special voice tones you should be using that may dramatically change the way your dog responds to you, the absolute and best way to choose and buy a healthy well adjusted dog, how to prepare your home for a new dog, discover how to make training fun for your dog, learn the vital importance of an early socialization period, find out all about basic obedience training, understand why it is important to feed your dog after you have eaten, find out how to change a “set” unwanted dog behavior, learn how to manage the older dog’s training needs and find out why your dog maybe chewing everything in site and what to do about it.
The full package contains, Complete DIY Dog Training Manual, DIY Dog Training – Audio, Potty Training in 7 Days, The Barking Buster Guide, Vet Health Tips Interview, Managing Eating Problems and a lot more.
Visit their website for more information about this book.
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A new puppy can make a mess of your house very quickly and I soon realized that I needed a way to train my new Christmas puppy. As things were, the puppy was getting me trained to do what she wanted me to do. By New Years day we were out of control, and that’s when I found some online dog training videos.
Think of the advantage of online dog training. I needed help now, with online dog training videos I had access right away, I had the help I needed without waiting for a book or DVD to ship. Suddenly new hope entered my life and instead of the little dog training me to deal with her mess I saw how to turn this around
I learned to concentrate on what the dog was doing right. Professional dog trainers everywhere tell their students to reward their dogs when they do something right. This "positive training" method is in contrast to training that centers on punishment. The dog training videos recommend that owners praise and reward their dogs with treats and affection for good behavior instead of just scolding them for bad behavior.
I also learned that dog training should be fun if you do it right. I learned that several shorter - 10 minute training sessions a day are better than a single long session. Long sessions are what you get when you take a live class and those classes are usually once a week. I hear from friends that both you and the dog will drift in the intervening time. Everyone has good intentions of carrying on between sessions but let’s face it, the human attention span in today's world is not that great and the week will pass before you even think about training again. The other thing is I hate to think of having to wait for a number of weeks for a new training session to begin. On New Year’s Day I needed help and I needed in now. The online dog training videos were immediately available and are always there whenever they are needed.
The online video dog training is actually fun! I learned that everything you do with your dog should be fun! And the more training you do with your dog, the more fun you are going to have with your dog and you will have a happier, more confident, and better behaved dog. Replace bad habits with good habits through reinforcement. If it annoys you that every time someone comes to visit, your dog jumps all over them, you need to find some other way for your furry friend to greet guests. Start by determining what you would like your dog to do. Maybe you would prefer that he come and site by your side when people arrive. Then work on teaching your dog to sit, and reward her heavily with praise and treats when she does. With this technique, you are teaching your dog a new habit to replace the bad behavior that you want to break by replacing the bad behavior with something that brings praise and rewards. If you do need to correct your dog in a negative way immediately show your dog the right behavior and follow it with positive praise to keep the dog happy and wanting to work with you. Keep it fun.
Online dog training videos are a great resource for training your dog. The range of topics covered is complete and by experts and the videos are ready when you need them – ready on your schedule.
About the Author
Renee Pullman has been a dog lover for many years, recently adopting a new puppy. Renee found online dog training videos and it has changed her thinking about dogs and relationships.
Dog Training with Primitive Breeds - www.SelfHelpDogTraining.com (K9-1)
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Free pet games to play online are the new fad in free entertainment. More and more websites have decided to take a chance and sponsor the development of a free pet game to feature in their arcade websites online. These games offer a simple plot and easy to follow instructions, their aim is not to confuse, but to entertain. In a race for popularity, appeal relies mostly on the detail and imagination of the background scenery and how cute the little creatures are. Some pet game titles seem to have found their way to hearts of players more than others. Such is the case of the called "Net Pet Caring Game".
The first thing that strikes you about this game are the soft, toned down images that make up the artwork. The use of pastel colors makes it all look very relaxed. The welcome screen offers you a choice of cat or dog to adopt as your pet. The game goes into the next screen, where you need to input the name of your pet in order to continue. Then you meet the instruction screen which is limited to three simple instructions. First, you must use your mouse to select an item in the menu to make use of it, and click on it again in order to hide it. The second tip lets the player know that they need to use appealing items to attract their pet from one room to another. Lastly, you are advised not to ignore your pet, or leave him unattended since he might become noisy and develop a behavior problem.
Once hit continue you are off on your own taking care of your pet. The game starts in the kitchen area, and as the instructions read, you are to start using the items in the menu to encourage the pet to behave. The player may select different things from the drop down menu, including food, training actions, and toys. A lady, who seems to be the owner of the house, will make an occasional appearance in the corner of the screen to let you know how you're doing, plus provide a few tips on what activities you should select from the menu. For a successful game, your pet should be properly fed and paid attention to. Once you get the hang of it, it will be like taking care of your own pet at home.
Overall, this is a very entertaining game for people who love animals. The fact that it is free, and you can play online at your whim adds even more appeal. Among the huge selection of free pet games online, this title makes one of the best attempts at recreating the scene of taking care of a real pet at home, making an emphasis on the amount of responsibility required to keep a pet under your care, even if it is a virtual one. It provides safe and sound entertainment, which children can enjoy with friends and family for hours on end.
free virtual dog games online + Free $500 Dog giftcard
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[simpleaffiliate source="chitika" results="0"][/simpleaffiliate] How can I obtain my dog training license?
I am currently looking to get my dog training license, and I don't know if I just retarded but I can't find any information on how get it anywhere.
I'm just trying to figure out where to get it, the cost, all that nonsense. Sorry, I guess I meant my business license. I would like to start my own pet care/training business. I assume I need a license for that...
No such thing!
Dog Training - How to get your dog to come back when called
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[simpleaffiliate source="chitika" results="0"][/simpleaffiliate] what are some of the easiest things we could build at home for a dog training course?
What are examples of a dog training course?
well you need a seesaw and bendable poles and a play tube and just rearrange them around in your yard and practice every day<3333 good luck hun
Bark Busters Home Dog Training Canada MoneyWise
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The practice of human sacrifice was widespread in the Mesoamerican and in the South American cultures during the Inca Empire. Like all other known pre-Columbian civilizations of Mesoamerica, the Aztecs practiced human sacrifice. The extant sources describe how the Aztecs sacrificed human victims on each of their eighteen festivities, one festivity for each of their 20-day months. It is unknown if the Aztecs engaged in human sacrifice before they reached the Anahuac valley and started absorbing other cultural influences. The first human sacrifice reported in the sources was the sacrifice and skinning of the daughter of the king Cxcox of Culhuacn; this story is a part of the legend of the foundation of Tenochtitlan. Several ethnohistorical sources state that under the guidance of Tlacaelel the importance of human sacrifice in Aztec history was given extra emphasis.
The role of sacrifice in Mesoamerica
Human sacrifice as shown in the Codex Magliabechiano.
Sacrifice was a common theme in Mesoamerican cultures. In the Aztec "Legend of the Five Suns", all the gods sacrificed themselves so that mankind could live. Some years after the Spanish conquest of Mexico, a body of Franciscans confronted the remaining Aztec priesthood and demanded, under threat of death, that they desist from their murderous practice. The Aztec priests defended themselves as follows:
Life is because of the gods; with their sacrifice they gave us life [...]. They produce our sustenance [...] which nourishes life.
What the Aztec priests were referring to was a central Mesoamerican belief: that a great, on-going sacrifice sustains the Universe. Everything is tonacayotl: the "spiritual flesh-hood" or "bodily [sacrificial] presence" of the gods on earth. Everything arth, crops, moon, stars and people springs from the severed or buried bodies, fingers, blood or the heads of the sacrificed gods. Humanity itself is macehualli, "those deserved and brought back to life through penance". A strong sense of indebtedness was connected with this worldview. Indeed, nextlahualli (debt-payment) was a commonly used metaphor for human sacrifice, and, as Bernardino de Sahagn reported, it was said that the victim was someone who "gave his service".
Human sacrifice was in this sense the highest level of an entire panoply of offerings through which the Aztecs sought to repay their debt to the gods. Both Sahagn and Toribio de Benavente (also called "Motolina") observed that the Aztecs gladly parted with everything: burying, smashing, sinking, slaying vast quantities of quail, rabbits, dogs, feathers, flowers, insects, beans, grains, paper, rubber and treasures as sacrifices. Even the "stage" for human sacrifice, the massive temple-pyramids, was an offering mound: crammed with treasures, grains, soil and human and animal sacrifices that were buried as gifts to the deities. Adorned with the land's finest art, treasure and victims, these temples had become buried offerings under new structures every half a century.
The sacrifice of animals was common, a practice for which the Aztecs bred dogs, eagles, jaguars and deer. Objects also were sacrificed by being broken and offered to the gods. The cult of Quetzalcatl required the sacrifice of butterflies and hummingbirds.
Self-sacrifice was also quite common; people would offer maguey thorns, tainted with their own blood and, like the Maya kings, would offer blood from their tongue, ear lobes, or genitals. Blood held a central place in Mesoamerican cultures. The Florentine Codex reports that in one of the creation myths Quetzalcatl offered blood extracted from a wound in his own genital to give life to humanity. There are several other myths in which Nahua gods offer their blood to help humanity.
Common people would offer maguey thorns with their blood. Lloyd deMause has argued that, like present-day self harmers, the Aztecs also practiced bloodletting from cuts made with obsidian knives or bone needles on fleshy parts of the body, like earlobes, lips, tongue, chest and calves. This was considered private and a personal act of penitence toward the gods. The thorns were put in a ball of straw called zacatapayoli and later placed in an adoratorium.
Much like the role of sacrifice elsewhere in the world, it thus seems that these rites functioned as a type of atonement for Aztec believers. Their sacrificial hymns describe the victim as 'sent (to death) to plead for us,' or 'consecrated to annul all sin. '(Duran, Book of the Gods and Rites, 232). In one such poem, a warrior-victim announces that 'I embrace mankind...I give myself to the community.'(MSS Romance de Los ... Folio 27r). Aztec society viewed even the slightest tlatlacolli ('sin' or 'insult') as an extremely malevolent supernatural force. For instance, if an adulterer were to enter a house, it was believed that all turkey chicks would perish from tlazomiquiztli ('filth-death')(Sahagun Bk. 5: 29: 191-192). To avoid such calamities befalling their community, those who had erred punished themselves by extreme measures such as slitting their tongues for vices of speech or their ears for vices of listening, and 'for a slight [sin they] hanged themselves, or threw themselves down precipices, or put an end to themselves by abstinence' (Motolinia, History of the Indies, 106-107). In Classic Nahuatl (the Aztec language) the verbal form ni-c-yecoa, 'I sin', is closely related to ni-c-ye.coa, 'I finish it.' It was believed that error of any sort could quite literally 'finish' or 'ruin' everything (Francisco Clavigero, Historia antiqua de Mxico, 7). This seems to have given Aztec society a heavy dependence on extremely violent 'penance,'of which human sacrifice was considered one form (as already mentioned, human sacrifice was often called 'penance').
A great deal of cosmological thought seems to have underlain each of the Aztec sacrificial rites. By far the most common form of human sacrifice was heart-extraction, and this seems to have related to the Aztec belief that the heart(tona) was both the seat of the individual and a fragment of the Sun's heat (istli). To this day, the Nahua consider the Sun to be a heart-soul (tona-tiuh) 'round, hot, pulsating'(Alan Sandtrom, Corn is Our Life, 1991, 239-240). It seems that in the Aztec view, humanity's 'divine sun fragments' were considered 'entrapped' by the body and its desires:
Where is your heart? You give your heart to each thing in turn. Carrying, you do not carry it... You destroy your heart on earth (Nahua poem in Irene Nicholson, Firefly in the Night, 156 & 203).
Heart-extraction was viewed as a means of liberate istli and reunite it with the Sun, as aptly depicted in Codex Magliabechiano, Folio 70 (illustrated in this section), wherein a victim's transformed heart flies Sunward on a trail of blood.
Finally, it should be noted that according to the Aztec (and Mesoamerican) world-view, the circumstances in which people died determined the type of afterlife they enjoyed. The Aztecs had meticulously organised death into several types, which each led to specific 'heavenly' and 'underworld' levels. In the levels Sahagun records, passing away quietly at home was the lowest, as it required the unfortunate soul to undergo numerous torturous trials and journeys, only to culminate in a sombre underworld. By contrast, what the Aztecs termed 'a good death' was sacrifice, war (which usually meant sacrifice) or - in the case of women - death whilst giving birth. This kind of end procured for the deceased the second-highest heaven (death in infancy being the highest). Persons who had died sacrificially or in war were called 'the God-dead' (Teo-micqui ) and were said to 'go pure... live hard by, nigh unto the Sun... [who] always forever ... rejoice ... [since] the House of the Sun is ... a place of joy (Sahagun Bk 6: 21).
The 52-year cycle
The cycle of fifty-two years was central to Mesoamerican cultures. The Nahua's religious beliefs were based on a great fear that the universe would collapse after each cycle if the gods were not strong enough. Every fifty-two years a special New Fire ceremony was performed. All fires were extinguished and at midnight a human sacrifice was made. The Aztecs waited for the dawn. If the Sun appeared it meant that the sacrifices for this cycle had been enough. A fire was ignited on the body of a victim, and this new fire was taken to every house, city and town. Rejoicing was general: a new cycle of fifty-two years was beginning, and the end of the world had been postponed, at least for another 52-year century. (A similar ceremony is still practiced by small indigenous groups, but without human sacrifice.) The ceremony was older than the Aztecs. While originally it was believed it was a matter of luck to survive, the Aztecs thought that constant sacrifice through the fifty-two year cycle could postpone the end.
According to Miguel Len-Portilla, Tlacaelel reformed the original Nahua religion and the Aztecs viewed themselves as the main representatives for feeding the gods. This gave them a new sense of identity, from "people without face" as they were called by hostile neighbours, to the people in charge of the existence of the universe. Thus they began to call themselves "The people of the sun". Other researchers dispute Len-Portilla's perspective, pointing to the relative lack of primary sources.[citation needed]
Sacrifices to specific gods
Huitzilopochtli
Huitzilopochtli was the tribal deity of the Mexica and, as such, he represented the character of the Mexica people and was often identified with the sun at the zenith, and with warfare.
When the Aztecs sacrificed people to Huitzilopochtli ( the god with war like aspects ) the victim would be placed on a sacrificial stone. Then the priest would cut through the abdomen with an obsidian or flint blade. The heart would be torn out still beating and held towards the sky in honor to the Sun-God; the body would be carried away and either cremated or given to the warrior responsible for the capture of the victim. He would either cut the body in pieces and send them to important people as an offering, or use the pieces for ritual cannibalism. The warrior would thus ascend one step in the hierarchy of the Aztec social classes, a system that rewarded successful warriors.
Victim of sacrificial gladiatorial combat, from Codex Magliabechiano. Note that he is tied to a large stone and his macuahuitl (sword/club) is covered with what appears to be feathers instead of obsidian.
Tezcatlipoca
Tezcatlipoca was generally considered the most powerful god, the god of night, sorcery and destiny (the name tezcatlipoca means "smoking mirror", or "obsidian"). The Aztecs believed that Tezcatlipoca created war to provide food and drink to the gods. Tezcatlipoca was known by several epithets including "the Enemy" and "the Enemy of Both Sides", which stress his affinity for discord. Tezcatlipoca had the power to forgive sins and to relieve disease, or to release a man from the fate assigned to him by his date of birth; however, nothing in Tezcatlipoca's nature compelled him to do so. He was capricious and often brought about reversals of fortune. To the Aztecs, he was an all-knowing, all-seeing nearly all-powerful god. One of his names can be translated as "We Who Are His Slaves".
Some captives were sacrificed to Tezcatlipoca in ritual gladiatorial combat. The victim was tethered in place and given a mock weapon. He died fighting against up to four fully armed jaguar knights and eagle warriors.
During the 20-day month of Toxcatl, a young impersonator of Tezcatlipoca would be sacrificed. Throughout a year, this youth would be dressed as Tezcatlipoca and treated as a living incarnation of the God. The youth would represent Tezcatlipoca on earth; he would get four beautiful women as his companions until he met his destiny, in the meantime he walked through the streets of Tenochtitlan playing a flute. On the day of the sacrifice a feast would be held in Tezcatlipoca's honor. The young man would climb the pyramid, break his flute and surrender his body to the priests. Sahagn compared it to the Christian Easter.
Huehueteotl
To appease Huehueteotl, the fire god and a senior deity, the Aztecs had a ceremony where they prepared a large feast at the end of which they would burn captives and before they died they would be taken from the fire and their hearts would be cut out. Motolina and Sahagn reported that the Aztecs believed that if they did not placate Huehueteotl a plague of fire would strike their city. The sacrifice was considered an offering to the deity.
Tlloc
Main article: Child sacrifice in pre-Columbian cultures
Tlloc was the god of rain. The Aztecs believed that if sacrifices weren't supplied for Tlloc, rain wouldn't come and their crops wouldn't flourish. Leprosy and rheumatism, diseases caused by Tlloc, would infest the village. Tlloc required the tears of the young as part of the sacrifice. The priests made the children cry during their way to immolation: a good omen that Tlloc would wet the earth in the raining season. In the Florentine Codex, also known as General History of the Things of New Spain, Sahagn wrote:
They offered them as sacrifices to [Tlaloc and Chalchiuhtlicue] so that they would give them water.
The Flower Wars
Main article: Flower war
It has often been claimed by scholars that the Aztecs resorted to a form of ritual warfare, the Flower War, to obtain living human bodies for the sacrifices in time of peace. This claim however has been severely criticised by scholars such as Ross Hassig and Nigel Davies who claim that the main purpose of the Flower Wars was political and not religious and that the number of sacrificial victims obtained through flower wars was insignificant compared to the number of victims obtained through normal political warfare.
According to Diego Durn's History of the Indies of New Spain, and a few other sources that are also based on the Crnica X, the Flower Wars were originally a treaty between the cities of Aztec Triple Alliance and Tlaxcala and Huexotzingo motivated by a famine in Mesoamerica in 1450. Aztec prisoners were also sacrificed in Tlaxcala and Huexotzingo. The capture of prisoners for sacrifices was called nextlaualli ("debt payment to the gods"). These sources however are contradicted by other sources, such as the Codex Chimalpahin, which mentions "Flower Wars" much earlier than the famine of 1450 and against other opponents than the ones mentioned in the treaty.
Because the objective of Aztec warfare was to capture victims alive for human sacrifice, battle tactics were designed primarily to injure the enemy rather than kill him. After towns were conquered their inhabitants were no longer candidates for human sacrifice, only liable to regular tribute.
Slaves also could be used for human sacrifice, but only if the slave was considered lazy and had been resold three times.
A ceremonial offering of Aztec sacrificial knife blades at the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City.
The sacrifice ritual
Most of the sacrificial rituals took more than two people to perform. In the usual procedure of the ritual, the sacrifice would be taken to the top of the temple. The sacrifice would then be laid on a stone slab by four priests, and his/her abdomen would be sliced open by a fifth priest with a ceremonial knife made of flint. The cut was made in the abdomen and went through the diaphragm. The priest would grab the heart and tear it out, still beating. It would be placed in a bowl held by a statue of the honored god, and the body thrown down the temple's stairs.
Before and during the killing, priests and audience (who gathered in the plaza below) stabbed, pierced and bled themselves as autosacrifice (Sahagun, Bk. 2: 3: 8, 20: 49, 21: 47). Hymns, whistles, spectacular costumed dances and percussive music marked different phases of the rite.
The body parts would then be disposed of: the viscera fed the animals in the zoo; the bleeding head was placed on display in the tzompantli, meaning 'hairy skulls'. Not all the skulls in the tzompantlis were victims of sacrifice. In the Anales de Tlatelolco it is described that during the siege of Tlatelolco by the Spaniards, the Tlatelolcas built three tzompantli: two for their own dead and one for the fallen conquerors, including two severed heads of horses.
Other kinds of human sacrifice, which paid tribute to various deities, approached the victims differently. The victim could be shot with arrows (in which the draining blood represented the cool rains of spring); die in unequal fighting (gladiatorial sacrifice) or be sacrificed as a result of the Mesoamerican ballgame; burned (to honor the fire god); flayed after being sacrificed (to honor Xipe Totec, "Our Lord The Flayed One"), or drowned.
A tzompantli, or skull rack, as shown in the post-Conquest Ramirez Codex.
Estimates of the scope of the sacrifices
For the re-consecration of Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan in 1487, the Aztecs reported that they sacrificed about 80,400 prisoners over the course of four days, though there were probably far fewer sacrifices. According to Ross Hassig, author of Aztec Warfare, "between 10,000 and 80,400 persons" were sacrificed in the ceremony. The higher estimate would average 14 sacrifices per minute during the four-day consecration. As a comparison, the Auschwitz concentration camp, working 24 hours a day with modern technology, approached but did not equal this pace: it executed about 19,200 a day at its peak. Four tables were arranged at the top so that the victims could be jettisoned down the sides of the temple. Nonetheless, according to Codex Telleriano-Remensis, old Aztecs who talked with the missionaries told about a much lower figure for the reconsecration of the temple, approximately 4,000 victims in total.
Michael Harner, in his 1977 article The Enigma of Aztec Sacrifice, estimates the number of persons sacrificed in central Mexico in the 15th century as high as 250,000 per year. Fernando de Alva Corts Ixtlilxochitl, a Mexica descendant and the author of Codex Ixtlilxochitl, claimed that one in five children of the Mexica subjects was killed annually. Victor Davis Hanson argues that an estimate by Don Carlos Zumrraga of 20,000 per annum is "more plausible." Other scholars believe that, since the Aztecs always tried to intimidate their enemies, it is more likely that they could have inflated the number as a propaganda tool. The same can be said for Bernal Daz's inflated calculations when, in a state of visual shock, he grossly miscalculated the number of skulls at one of the seven Tenochtitlan tzompantlis. According the Florentine Codex, fifty years before the conquest the Aztecs burnt the skulls of the former tzompantli. Mexican archeologist Eduardo Matos Moctezuma has unearthed and studied some tzompantlis.
Sacrifices were made on specific days. Sahagn, Juan Bautista de Pomar and Motolina report that the Aztecs had eighteen festivities each year, one for each Aztec month. They clearly state that in those festivities sacrifices were made. Each god required a different kind of victim: young women were drowned for Xilonen; children were sacrificed to Tlloc; Nahuatl-speaking prisoners to Huitzilopochtli, and a single nahua would volunteer for Tezcatlipoca. The Ramrez Codex states that for the annual festivity of Huitzilopochtli more than sixty prisoners were sacrificed in the main temple, and prisoners were sacrificed in other large Aztec cities as well.
Not all sacrifices were made at the Tenochtitlan temples; a few were made at "Cerro del Pen", an islet of the Texcoco lake. According to an Aztec source, in the month of Tlacaxipehualiztli (from February 22 to March 13), thirty-four captives were sacrificed in the gladiatorial sacrifice to Xipe Totec. More victims would be sacrificed to Huitzilopochtli in the month Panquetzaliztli (from 9 November to 28 November) according to the Ramrez Codex. This would mean a figure as low as 300 to 600 victims a year. There is little agreement on the actual figure due to the scarcity of archeological evidence.
Every Aztec warrior would have to provide at least one prisoner for sacrifice. All the male population was trained to be warriors, but only the few who succeeded in providing captives could became full-time members of the warrior elite. Those who could not would become macehualli, workers. Accounts also state that several young warriors could unite to capture a single prisoner, which suggests that capturing prisoners for sacrifice was challenging.
There is still much debate as to what social groups constituted the usual victims of these sacrifices. It is often assumed that all victims were 'disposable' commoners or foreigners. However, slaves - a major source of victims - were not a permanent class but rather persons from any level of Aztec society who had fallen into debt or committed some crime (see Duran, Book of the Gods and Rites, 131, 260). Likewise, most of the earliest accounts talk of prisoners of war of diverse social status, and concur that virtually all child sacrifices were locals of noble lineage, offered by their own parents (compare Cortes, Letters 105 with Motolinia, History of the Lindies 118-119 and Duran, Book of the Gods, 223, 242).
Likewise, it is doubtful if many victims came from far afield. In 1454, the Aztec government forbade the slaying of captives from distant lands at the capital's temples (Duran, The Aztecs: History of the Indes, 141). Duran' s informants told him that sacrifices were consequently 'nearly always ... friends of the [Royal] House'- meaning warriors from allied states (Duran, The Aztecs: History of the Indies, 141, 198). This probably meant that the average Aztec warrior stood as much chance of procuring a victim as he did of himself becoming one - as the Aztec Emperor reportedly told all captives about to be sacrificed: 'today for you, tomorrow for me'(Tezozomoc Vol.2).
Discussion of primary sources
Codex Tudela.
Early Spanish accounts mention the sacrificial practice of the Aztecs as well as other Mesoamerican cultures in the 16th century. There are numerous depictions of sacrifices in the Mexica statuary, as well as in codices such as the Ros, Tudela, Telleriano-Remensis, Durn, and Sahagn's Florentine. On the other hand, the pre-Columbian, indigenous codices that depict the rites were not written texts but pictorial and highly symbolic ideographshe Aztecs did not have a true writing system such that of the Mayas. Bishop Zumarraga (1528-48) burned all obtainable texts in his religious zeal.
For Mesoamerica as a whole, the accumulated archaeological, iconographical and in the case of the Maya written evidence, indicates that human sacrifice was widespread across cultures and periods, dating back to 600 BCE and possibly much earlier. Osteological analyses have also been interpreted as corroborating the texts. Pictorial illustrations of sacrifices on Maya ceramics and stelae have also been published.
Accounts from the Grijalva expeditions
In addition to the accounts provided by Sahagn and Durn, there are other important texts to be considered.
Juan de Grijalva, Hernn Corts, Juan Daz, Bernal Daz, Andrs de Tapia, Francisco de Aguilar, Ruy Gonzlez and the Anonymous Conqueror wrote about the Conquest of Mexico. Martyr d'Anghiera, Lopez de Gomara, Oviedo y Valdes and Illescas, while not in Mesoamerica, wrote their accounts based on interviews with the participants. Bartolom de Las Casas and Sahagn arrived later to New Spain but had access to direct testimony, especially of the indigenous people. All of these narratives mention and describe the practice of human sacrifice.
Juan Daz
Juan Daz, a participant of the 1518 Grijalva expedition, wrote Itinerario de Grijalva before 1520, in which he describes the aftermath of a sacrifice on an island near Veracruz.
Bernal Daz
Main article: The Conquest of New Spain
Bernal Daz corroborates Juan Daz's history:
On these altars were idols with evil looking bodies, and that every night five Indians had been sacrificed before them; their chests had been cut open, and their arms and thighs had been cut off. The walls were covered with blood. We stood greatly amazed and gave the island the name isleta de Sacrificios [Island of the Sacrifices].
In The Conquest of New Spain Daz recounted that, after landing on the coast, they came across a temple dedicated to Tezcatlipoca. "That day they had sacrificed two boys, cutting open their chests and offering their blood and hearts to that accursed idol". Daz narrates several more sacrificial descriptions on the later Corts expedition. Arriving at Cholula, they find "cages of stout wooden bars [...] full of men and boys who were being fattened for the sacrifice at which their flesh would be eaten". When the conquistadors reached Tenochtitlan, Daz described the sacrifices at the Great Pyramid:
They strike open the wretched Indian's chest with flint knives and hastily tear out the palpitating heart which, with the blood, they present to the idols [...]. They cut off the arms, thighs and head, eating the arms and thighs at ceremonial banquets. The head they hang up on a beam, and the body is [] given to the beasts of prey.
According to Bernal Daz, the chiefs of the surrounding towns, for example Cempoala, would complain on numerous occasions to Corts about the perennial need to supply the Aztecs with victims for human sacrifice. It is clear from his description of their fear and resentment toward the Mexicas that, in their opinion, it was no honor to surrender their kinsmen to be sacrificed by them.
Hernn Corts
Corts describes similar events in his Letters:
They have a most horrid and abominable custom which truly ought to be punished and which until now we have seen in no other part, and this is that, whenever they wish to ask something of the idols, in order that their plea may find more acceptance, they take many girls and boys and even adults, and in the presence of these idols they open their chests while they are still alive and take out their hearts and entrails and burn them before the idols, offering the smoke as sacrifice. Some of us have seen this, and they say it is the most terrible and frightful thing they have ever witnessed.
The Anonymous Conqueror
The Anonymous Conqueror's Narrative of Some Things of New Spain and of the Great City of Temestitan details Aztec sacrifices. In Chapter XIV he depicts the temple in which men, women, boys and girls were sacrificed. On Chapter XXIV the Anonymous Conqueror repeatedly claims that the Aztecs were cannibals, sodomites, alcoholics and polygamists. The original Spanish text is lost. The description of the temple was published in the 1556 Ramusio Italian edition.
A jaguar-shaped cuauhxicalli in the National Museum of Anthropology. This altar-like stone vessel was used to hold the hearts of sacrificial victims. See also chacmool.
Assessment of the practice of human sacrifice
Human sacrifice was nothing new when the Aztecs arrived to the Valley of Mexico, nor was it something unique to pre-Columbian Mexico. Other Mesoamerican cultures, such as the Tarascans and Toltecs, performed human sacrifices as well. Although the extent of human sacrifice is unknown among several Mesoamerican civilizations, such as Teotihuacn, what distinguished Maya and Aztec human sacrifice was the importance with which it was embedded in everyday life.
Diego Durn states that Aztecs made "indifferent or sarcastic remarks" when the Spaniards severely criticized the rite. In his Book of the Gods and Rites some of the Nahuas even ridiculed the Christian sensibilities. Instead, they asked the Spaniards to applaud:
The sacrifice of human beings [], the honored oblation of great lords and noblemen. They remember these things and tell of them as if they had been great deeds.
Although Aztec accounts mention some victims who wept, 'faltered... weakened' or 'lost control of their bowels' when going to be sacrificed (Sahagun Bk 2: 81), this reaction does not seem to have been the norm, as when this occurred, it was viewed as a bad omen (Duran, Book of the Gods and Rites, 132), and a tetlazolmictiliztli ('insult to the gods')(Duran, Book of the Gods and Rites, 132). Such victims were hurriedly taken aside and slain amidst the congregation's sarcastic jeers of '(the victim has) quite acquitted himself as a man'(Sahagun Bk 2:21). Contrary to popular perceptions of Aztec victims being terrified of their fate, even the Conquistadors Cortes and Alvarado found that those they freed 'indignantly rejected [the] offer of release and demanded to be sacrificed.'(Bernal Diaz, The Conquest of New Spain,159).
What we can glean from all this is that the sacrificial role entailed a great deal of social expectation and a certain degree of acquiescence. Sahagun's informants told him that key roles were reserved for persons who were considered 'charming...quick..dances with feeling.. without [moral] defects ... of good understanding ... good mannered'(Sahagun Bk 2: 24: 68-69). For many rites, the victim had such a quantity of prescribed duties that it is difficult to imagine how the accompanying festival would have progressed without some degree of compliance on the part of the victim. For instance, victims were expected to bless children, greet and cheer passers-by, hear people's petitions to the gods, visit people in their homes, give discourses and lead sacred songs, processions and dances (Sahagun Bk 5: 8; Bk 2: 5:9; Bk 2:24:68-69). The works of Clendinnen and Brundage imply that only a few select victims had this kind of role, but the Florentine Codex and Duran both make no such distinctions, stating that 'those who had to die performed many ceremonies... [and] these [pre-sacrificial] rites were performed in the case of all the prisoners, each in turn.'(see Sahagun Bk 2:5:9 and Duran, Book of the Gods...p. 112).
It should also be remembered that these sacrifices were ritualistic and symbolic acts accompanying huge feasts and festivals. Victims usually died in the "center stage" amidst the splendor of dancing troupes, percussion orchestras, elaborate costumes and decorations, carpets of flowers, crowds of thousands of commoners, and all the assembled elite.
This might explain why Aztec texts frequently refer to human sacrifice as neteotoquiliztli, 'the desire to be regarded as a god'(Duran, Book of the Gods and Rites, 177 Note 4). For each festival, at least one or more victims took on the paraphernalia, habits and attributes of the god or goddess whom they were dying as. Particularly the young man who was indoctrinated for a year to submit himself to Tezcatlipoca's temple was the Aztec equivalent of a celebrity or rock star, being greatly revered and adored to the point of people "kissing the ground" when he passed by, as Sahagn put it.
This practice was known as becoming an ixiptla - namely, the god's representative, image or idol. Ixiptla was the same term used for wooden, stone and dough images of gods. Interestingly, Aztec texts rarely differentiate between human ixiptla and wooden or stone ixiptla. In fact, so elaborately costumed and painted were human ixiptla that even the congregation was unsure which were human and which were stone or wood (Duran, Book of the Gods and Rites, 102). When a victim appeared in full regalia before the congregation, it was said that the divinity had been given 'human form'- that the god now had an ixitli (face)(Duran, Book of the Gods..., 72-73). Duran says such victims were'worshipped... as the deity'(Duran, Book of the Gods and Rites, 42,109,232) or 'as though they had been gods'(Sahagun, Florentine Codex Bk 2: 226, 238-239) (-the original Nahuatl term being nienoteoti'tzinea, literally, 'I consider him a god')(Clavigero, 98). Even whilst still alive, these victims were honoured, hallowed and addressed (like gods) as 'Lord' and 'Lady'(Duran, Book of the Gods and Rites.., 189) Posthumously, their remains were treated as actual relics of the gods which explains why victims' skulls, bones and skin were often painted, bleached, stored and displayed, or else used as ritual masks and oracles. For example, Diego Duran's informants told him that whoever wore the skin of the victim portraying god Xipe considered himself 'divine'(Duran, Book of the Gods and Rites..176).
Proposed explanations of Aztec human sacrifice
Aztec or Mixtec sacrificial knife, probably for ceremonial use only, in the British Museum.
The nutritional explanation
Main article: Cannibalism in pre-Columbian America
Scholars Michael Harner and Marvin Harris have argued that the motivation behind human sacrifice among the Aztecs was actually the cannibalization of the sacrificial victims. While there is universal agreement that the Aztecs practiced human sacrifice, there is a lack of scholarly consensus as to whether cannibalism was widespread. At one extreme anthropologist Marvin Harris, author of Cannibals and Kings, has propagated the claim, originally proposed by Harner, that the flesh of the victims was a part of an aristocratic diet as a reward, since the Aztec diet was lacking in proteins. This claim has been refuted by Bernard Ortz Montellano who, in his studies of Aztec health, diet, and medicine, demonstrates that while the Aztec diet was low in animal proteins, it was rich in vegetable proteins.
The political explanation
The high-profile nature of the sacrificial ceremonies indicates that human sacrifice played an important political function. The Mexica used a sophisticated package of psychological weaponry to maintain their empire, aimed at instilling a sense of fear into their neighbours. The Aztecs controlled a large empire of tribute paying vassal tribes. The population of native Aztecs was very small compared to the population of the area they controlled. The Aztecs were vulnerable - they would have been easily outnumbered had their vassal tribes formed alliances and rebelled. To sow dissention among the vassals the Aztecs demanded human victims as part of the annual tribute. The vassals would raid each other to capture prisoners. This encouraged animosity between the vassals and strengthened Aztec political central rule. This was a method of political control which was innovative and perhaps unique in human history.
European empires, in contrast, were typically secured through the creation of garrisons and installation of puppet governments in conquered towns or settlements. The Mexica used human sacrifice as a weapon of terror even against the Spanish conquistadors, whose fallen victims were sacrificed and sometimes skinned and their bloody heads placed at the tzompantli. From across the empire even the chiefs of enemy towns were invited, or in the case of tributary towns obliged, to attend sacrificial ceremonies in Tenochtitlan. Their refusal would be considered an act of defiance against the Mexica.
The psychological explanation
For Lloyd deMause it is significant that the victims were invested of a profound cosmological meaning. According to him and a minority of academics who subscribe to an alternate school of thought, "psychohistory", human sacrifices, including sacrifices in Mesoamerica, were an unconscious form of response to the traumatogenic modes of childrearing. DeMause in particular considers the Aztecs' practice of sacrifice as displacement.
External links
Article "El sacrificio humano en Mesoamrica" by Michel Graulich - in Arqueologa mexicana, vol. XI, nmero 63, pp. 16-21. (Spanish)
Notes
^ Matos-Moctezuma, Eduardo (1986). Vida y muerte en el Templo Mayor. Fondo de Cultura Econmica.
^ "Evidence May Back Human Sacrifice Claims" By Mark Stevenson
^ "Grisly Sacrifices Found in Pyramid of the Moon" By LiveScience Staff.
^ a b Harner, Michael (1977). "The Ecological Basis for Aztec Sacrifice". American Ethnologist 4 (1): 117135. doi:10.1525/ae.1977.4.1.02a00070.
^ Leonardo Lpez-Lujn's address in "Nuevas perspectivas sobre el sacrificio humano entre los mexicas", an international seminary of the Instituto Nacional de Antropologa e Historia celebrated in September 2007 in the Museum of the Templo Mayor.
^ Graulich, Michael (2003). "El sacrificio humano en Mesoamrica". Arqueologa mexicana XI (63): 1621.
^ Reinhard, Johan (November 1999). "A 6,700 metros nios incas sacrificados quedaron congelados en el tiempo". National Geographic, Spanish version: 3655.
^ Bernardino de Sahagn, Historia General de las Cosas de la Nueva Espaa, ed. a cargo de ngel Ma. Garibay (Mxico: Editorial Porra, 2006), chapters XX to XXXVIII
^ Thema, Equipo (2002). Los aztecas. Ediciones Rueda. pp. 3940.
^ Nicholson, Henry B. (1971). (in) Handbook of Middle American Indians. University of Texas Press. p. 402.
^ Len-Portilla (1963, p.111).
^ Museo del Templo Mayor, Hall 2
^ Cecelia Klein. "The Ideology of Autosacrifice at the Templo Mayor" in E. H. Boone, ed. The Aztec Templo Mayor pp. 293-370. Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks. 1987 ISBN 0-88402-149-1
^ Soustelle, Jacques (2003). La vida cotidiana de los aztecas. Fondo de Cultura Econmica. p. 102ff.
^ Durn, Fr. Diego (1967). Historia de las Indias de Nueva Espaa. Porra.
^ deMause, Lloyd (2002). The Emotional Life of Nations. Karnac. p. 413.
^ Matos-Moctezuma, Eduardo (2006). Tenochtitlan. Fondo de Cultura Econmica. pp. 17273.
^ Bernardino de Sahagn, Historia General de las Cosas de la Nueva Espaa (op. cit.), p. 76
^ Sahagn, Ibid.
^ Duverger, Christian (2005). La flor letal: economa del sacrificio azteca. Fondo de cultura econmica. pp. 8393.
^ Sahagn, Op. cit., p. 79
^ Bernardino de Sahagn, Historia General de las Cosas de la Nueva Espaa (op. cit.), p. 83
^ Sahagn, Fray Bernardino (1950-1959). Florentine Codex: General History of the Things of New Spain. 1561-82., trans. Arthur J.O. Anderson and Charles E. Dibble. Santa Fe: School of American Research and the University of Utah. III, 5.
^ Hassig, Ross (1988). Aztec Warfare: Imperial Expansion and Political Control. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-806-12121-1.
^ Hassig, Ross (2003). "El sacrificio y las guerras floridas". Arqueologa mexicana XI: 4651.
^ Davies, Nigel (1968). Los Seorios independientes del Imperio Azteca. Mexico D.F.: Instituto Nacional de Antropologa e Historia (INAH).
^ Duverger, Christian (2005). La flor letal. Fondo de cultura econmica. p. 81.
^ Bernardino de Sahagn, Historia General de las Cosas de la Nueva Espaa (op. cit.), p. 88
^ Duverger, Christian (2005). La flor letal. Fondo de cultura econmica. pp. 139140.
^ Duverger, Ibid., 171
^ Duverger (op. cit.), pages 157-167
^ Hassig, Ross (2003). "El sacrificio y las guerras floridas". Arqueologa mexicana XI: 47.
^ Victor Davis Hanson (2000), Carnage and Culture, Doubleday, New York, pp. 194-195. Hanson, who accepts the 80,000+ estimate, also notes that it exceeded "the daily murder record at either Auschwitz or Dachau."
^ Hanson, p. 195.
^ Duverger (op. cit), 174-77
^ Matos-Moctezuma, Eduardo (2005). Muerte a filo de obsidiana. Fondo de Cultura Econmica. pp. 111124.
^ George Holtker, "Studies in Comparative Religion", The Religions of Mexico and Peru, Vol 1, CTS
^ - "Ritual Sacrifice and the Feathered Serpent Pyramid at Teotihuacn, Mxico" By George L. Cowgill
^ - "Analysis of Kaqchikel Skeletons: Iximch, Guatemala" By Stephen L. Whittington & Robert H. Tykot
^ Stuart, David (2003). "La ideologa del sacrificio entre los mayas". Arqueologa mexicana XI (63): 2429.
^ Daz, Bernal (2005) . Historia verdadera de la conquista de Nueva Espaa (Introduccin y notas de Joaqun Ramrez Cabaas). Editorial Porra. p. 24.
^ Daz (op. cit.), p. 150
^ Dinesh D'Souza's article
^ The Conquest of New Spain, chap. XLVI
^ Corts, Hernn (2005) . Cartas de relacin. Mxico: Editorial Porra. p. 26. "Y tienen otra cosa horrible y abominable y digna de ser punida que hasta hoy no habamos visto en ninguna parte, y es que todas las veces que alguna cosa quieren pedir a sus dolos para que ms acepten su peticin, toman muchas nias y nios y aun hombre y mujeres de mayor edad, y en presencia de aquellos dolos los abren vivos por los pechos y les sacan el corazn y las entraas, y queman las dichas entraas y corazones delante de los dolos, y ofrecindolos en sacrificio aquel humo. Esto habemos visto algunos de nosotros, y los que lo han visto dicen que es la ms cruda y espantosa cosa de ver que jams han visto".
^ - Narrative of Some Things of New Spain and of the Great City of Temestitan, Mxico, Chapter XV, written by a Companion of Hernn Corts, The Anonymous Conqueror.
^ Ibid., Chapter XIV
^ Ibid., Chapter XXIV
^ DNA analysis shows that the Teotihuacan civilization brought human victims from distant towns.
^ Diego Duran, Book of the Gods and Rites, p. 227
^ Sahagn, Historia general, op. cit, p. 104
^ Website of the British Museum.
^ Ortiz de Montellano, Bernard R. (1990). Aztec Medicine, Health, and Nutrition. Rutgers University Press.
^ Ortiz De Montellano, Bernard R. (1983). "Counting Skulls: Comment on the Aztec Cannibalism Theory of Harner-Harris". American Anthropologist, New Series 85, (2): 403406.
^ Godwin, Robert (2004). One Cosmos under God. Omega Books. pp. 142, 154.
^ deMause, Lloyd (2002). The Emotional Life of Nations. Karnac. e.g., pp. 31, 289290, 312, 374, and 410.
References
Anonymous Conqueror (1917) [ca.1550] (online reproduction by FAMSI, edited by Alec Christensen). Narrative of Some Things of New Spain and of the Great City of Temestitan, Mxico. Marshall H. Saville (trans. and ed.). New York: The Cortes Society. OCLC 6720413. http://www.famsi.org/research/christensen/anon_con/index.html. Retrieved 2008-01-12.
Carrasco, David (1999). City of Sacrifice: The Aztec Empire and the Role of Violence in Civilization. Boston, MA: Beacon Press. ISBN 0-8070-4642-6. OCLC 41368255.
Daz del Castillo, Bernal (1963) . The Conquest of New Spain. Penguin Classics. J. M. Cohen (trans.) (6th printing (1973) ed.). Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-044123-9. OCLC 162351797.
Durn, Diego (1994) [ca.1581]. The History of the Indies of New Spain. Civilization of the American Indian series, #210. Doris Heyden (trans., annot., and introd.) (English translation of Historia de las Indias de Nueva-Espaa y Islas de Tierra Firme ed.). Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-2649-3. OCLC 29565779.
Godwin, Robert W. (2004). One Cosmos under God: The Unification of Matter, Life, Mind & Spirit. Saint Paul, MN: Paragon House. ISBN 1-55778-836-7. OCLC 55131504.
Hassig, Ross (1988). Aztec Warfare: Imperial Expansion and Political Control. Civilization of the American Indian series, no. 188. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-2121-1. OCLC 17106411.
Len-Portilla, Miguel (1963). Aztec Thought and Culture: A Study of the Ancient Nhuatl Mind. Civilization of the American Indian series, #67. Jack Emory Davis (trans.). Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. OCLC 181727.
Matos Moctezuma, Eduardo (1998). Vida y muerte en el Templo Mayor (3rd ed.). Mxico D.F.: Fondo de Cultura Econmica. ISBN 968-16-5712-8. OCLC 40997904. (Spanish)
Ortiz De Montellano, Bernard R. (June 1983). "Counting Skulls: Comment on the Aztec Cannibalism Theory of Harner-Harris". American Anthropologist (Arlington, VA: American Anthropological Association) 85 (2): 403406. doi:10.1525/aa.1983.85.2.02a00130. OCLC 1479294.
Ortiz De Montellano, Bernard R. (1990). Aztec Medicine, Health, and Nutrition. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. ISBN 0-8135-1562-9. OCLC 20798977.
Sahagn, Bernardino de (195082) [ca. 154085]. Florentine Codex: General History of the Things of New Spain, 13 vols. in 12. vols. I-XII. Charles E. Dibble and Arthur J.O. Anderson (eds., trans., notes and illus.) (translation of Historia General de las Cosas de la Nueva Espaa ed.). Santa Fe, NM and Salt Lake City: School for American Research and the University of Utah Press. ISBN 0-87480-082-X. OCLC 276351.
Schele, Linda; and Mary Ellen Miller (1992). Blood of Kings: Dynasty and Ritual in Maya Art. Justin Kerr (photographer) (2nd paperback edn., reprint with corrections ed.). New York: George Braziller. ISBN 0-8076-1278-2. OCLC 41441466.
Categories: Aztec society | Aztec mythology and religion | Human sacrificeHidden categories: All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements from November 2007 About the Author
It's a known fact that animals have the amazing ability to calm their owners and promote positive emotions. So, besides the fact that if they're left behind, they most probably will suffer from separation anxiety, if you migrate with your pets, they'll most likely help you ease into your new home and country.
If you want to migrate with your pets - this is what you need to know!!
Restrictions
There are a few restrictions in regards to pet immigration in various countries.Pet Immigration is not a very simple process but it is very possible. For example, if you've decided to migrate to New Zealand consider that this country only accepts cats and dogs. Unfortunately, no other kinds of pets can gain access to New Zealand. So, if you have a parrot or pet rabbit called bunny, you'll have to find a loving home for it in your homeland, and bid them farewell. Also, consider the following. Animals are required to come through Auckland International Airport. Most animals are subject to quarantine. This depends on which country they are from. Your pet will typically spend at least 6 months in their departure country and will require full vaccinations. Rest assured a subcutaneous chip comes standard.
Pet Lab Tests
In most instances, pets will also require a rabies lab test at least three weeks after vaccination. Vaccinations for your pets include the following: For dogs (Rabies (Except UK and Australia), Distemper, Hepatitis, Adenovirus 2, Parainfluenza, Bordatella , Leptospirosis , Parvovirus. For cats; (Rabies (Except UK and Australia), Panleukopnia, Rhinotrachetis, Calicivirus. If you need more information regarding the rules and regulation of pets, visit the Ministry for Agriculture and Forestry. The lab test result identifies the animal by its identity chip number. This chip must be at least 6 months old before the animal will be eligible for importation. Be sure to handle this in advance. If you fail to do so, you may be without your pet for several months.
A Permit to Import may be required.
Exceptions
This does not apply to animals migrating from Australia and the UK. Your pet may also have to undergo a period of quarantine. There's no way of telling what the specific set period will be. So, keep this in mind. In fact, your pet could be kept in quarantine for up to a month or longer. Take into consideration that shipping pets is a very expensive exercise and could currently cost you over $1000 NZ Dollars!
Contact a quarantine facility
If it's not necessary for your pet or pets to be quarantined before applying for a permit to import, you must contact a quarantine facility in New Zealand to reserve a space for your pet/pets. When you book a space the quarantine facility will send you a letter of confirmation. This letter must be included with your permit application.
Prepare your pet
You'll need to ensure that your loved one is prepared well. All animal products, this includes pet food and poultry feather meal products require Import Health Standards. If your pet requires medication, you may be able to import the medicine. You'll need approval from Agricultural Compounds and Veterinary Medicines Group. You’ll require The Import Health Standards (IHS) documents. These are documents that detail the import conditions for live animals and animal products into New Zealand. These documents define the conditions that must (if an import is made), be met in the country of origin or of export. This applies to the period during the transit of importation and quarantine. What's more, the ISH will be able to tell you whether you'll need a permit to Import or Post Entry quarantine.
Factors to consider
These factors are important as to they'll ensure that your pet arrives safely and is well cared for. If you intend to import your cat or dog, be sure to check the requirements in the personal travel section. Note that cats and dogs coming from Australia, United Kingdom, Sweden, Norway, Hawaii and Singapore are not required to undergo a period of quarantine, but they do require certification. These pets will however be inspected for ticks on arrival.
Pets Immigrating to Canada
If you immigrate to Canada, you'll need to have medical documents showing that your pet is healthy. You'll also be required to follow certain procedures while crossing the border. Take into account that all documents for your pets are required to be documented in English or French.
Canadian Requirements
If you're importing puppy pets under 3 months old, you don't require documents for them. Although, for all cats and dogs older than 3 months, you'll have to prove, via medical certificates for example, that they don't have rabies. Thankfully, if you're coming from a country recognised as rabies-free, you're required to secure a document from a veterinarian who works for a government veterinary service in your home country. The vet will then have to state that there have been no cases of rabies in your country for at least 6 months. The vet will also be required to state that your cat or dog have been in the country throughout this time.
Consider the following
Currently, the following countries are recognised by the government of Canada as rabies-free. These countries are: Antigua, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Fiji, Finland, Iceland, Ireland (Republic of), Jamaica, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla , St. Lucia , St. Martin (Netherlands Antilles), St. Pierre et Miquelon Islands , St. Vincent , Sweden , Taiwan, Turks and Caicos Islands , United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland) and Uruguay.
In regards to pet registration, you should contact the National Pet Register (NPR) which is a wide free pet ID service. The NPR operates throughout Australia for 24 hrs a day through the year. There’s simply no excuse not to register your pet! A valid passport will come in handy too!
By the looks of it, it’ll do you and your pet good to research about your future countries animal import policies. Be sure to check the rules of the carrier that you plan to use to transport your pet. At the end of the day, all the trouble’s well worth it when you hold your pet in your arms, in your new country.
Want more information from one of our trained professionals? Fill out our FREE ASSESSMENT form or call us on 0845 2 606030 on a no obligation basis.
About the Author
Immigration Writer immigrationunit.com
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