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A () or skull rack was a type of wooden rack or palisade documented in several
Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica. W ...
n civilizations, which was used for the public display of
human skull The skull is a bone protective cavity for the brain. The skull is composed of four types of bone i.e., cranial bones, facial bones, ear ossicles and hyoid bone. However two parts are more prominent: the cranium and the mandible. In humans, the ...
s, typically those of war captives or other sacrificial victims. It is a scaffold-like construction of poles on which heads and skulls were placed after holes had been made in them. Many have been documented throughout Mesoamerica, and range from the Epiclassic () through early Post-Classic ().Mendoza (2007) pg 397 In 2017 archeologists announced the discovery of the Hueyi Tzompantli, with more than 650 skulls, in the archeological zone of the
Templo Mayor The (Spanish: Main Temple) was the main temple of the Mexica people in their capital city of Tenochtitlan, which is now Mexico City. Its architectural style belongs to the late Postclassic period of Mesoamerica. The temple was called ' in ...
in
Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
.


Etymology

The name comes from the
Classical Nahuatl Classical Nahuatl (also known simply as Aztec or Nahuatl) is any of the variants of Nahuatl spoken in the Valley of Mexico and central Mexico as a ''lingua franca'' at the time of the 16th-century Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire. During the s ...
language of the
Aztec The Aztecs () were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different Indigenous peoples of Mexico, ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those g ...
s but is also commonly applied to similar structures depicted in other civilizations. Its precise
etymology Etymology ()The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the Phonological chan ...
is uncertain although its general interpretation is 'skull rack', 'wall of skulls', or 'skull banner'. It is most likely a compound of the Nahuatl words ('skull'; from or 'hair', 'scalp' and ('
gourd Gourds include the fruits of some flowering plant species in the family Cucurbitaceae, particularly ''Cucurbita'' and ''Lagenaria''. The term refers to a number of species and subspecies, many with hard shells, and some without. One of the earli ...
' or 'container'), and ('banner'). That derivation has been ascribed to explain the depictions in several codices that associate these with banners; however, Nahuatl linguist
Frances Karttunen Frances Esther Karttunen (born 1942), also known as Frances Ruley Karttunen, is an American academic linguist, historian and author. Education and career She received her BA in 1964 from Harvard and her PhD in 1970 from Indiana University. In ...
has proposed that means merely 'row' or 'wall'.


Historical distribution


General information

It was most commonly erected as a linearly-arranged series of vertical posts connected by a series of horizontal crossbeams. The skulls were pierced or threaded laterally along these horizontal stakes. An alternate arrangement, more common in the Maya regions, was for the skulls to be impaled on top of one another along the vertical posts. are known chiefly from their depiction in Late Postclassic (13th to 16th centuries) and post-Conquest (mid-16th to 17th centuries)
codices The codex (plural codices ) was the historical ancestor of the modern book. Instead of being composed of sheets of paper, it used sheets of vellum, papyrus, or other materials. The term ''codex'' is often used for ancient manuscript books, with ...
, contemporary accounts of the
conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, O ...
es, and several other inscriptions. However, a -like structure, thought to be the first instance of such structures, has been excavated from the Proto-Classic
Zapotec civilization The Zapotec civilization ( "The People"; 700 BC–1521 AD) was an indigenous pre-Columbian civilization that flourished in the Valley of Oaxaca in Mesoamerica. Archaeological evidence shows that their culture originated at least 2,500 years ag ...
at the La Coyotera,
Oaxaca Oaxaca ( , also , , from nci, Huāxyacac ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca), is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of Mexico. It is ...
site, dated from around the 2nd century BCE to the 3rd century CE. The Zapotecs called this structure a , and it displayed 61 skulls. are also noted in other Mesoamerican
pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, th ...
cultures, such as the
Toltec The Toltec culture () was a Pre-Columbian era, pre-Columbian Mesoamerican culture that ruled a state centered in Tula (Mesoamerican site), Tula, Hidalgo (state), Hidalgo, Mexico, during the Epiclassic and the early Post-Classic period of Mesoam ...
and
Mixtec The Mixtecs (), or Mixtecos, are indigenous Mesoamerican peoples of Mexico inhabiting the region known as La Mixteca of Oaxaca and Puebla as well as La Montaña Region and Costa Chica Regions of the state of Guerrero. The Mixtec Culture wa ...
.


Toltec

At the Toltec capital of Tula exists the first indications in Central Mexico of a real fascination with skulls and skeletons. Tula flourished from the ninth until the thirteenth century. The site includes the decimated remains of a . The at Tula displayed multiple rows of stone carved skulls adorning the sides of a broad platform upon which the actual skulls of sacrificial victims were exhibited. The appeared during the final phases of civilization at Tula, which was destroyed around 1200.


Maya

Other examples are indicated from
Maya civilization The Maya civilization () of the Mesoamerican people is known by its ancient temples and glyphs. Its Maya script is the most sophisticated and highly developed writing system in the pre-Columbian Americas. It is also noted for its art, archit ...
sites such as
Uxmal Uxmal (Yucatec Maya: ''Óoxmáal'' ) is an ancient Maya city of the classical period located in present-day Mexico. It is considered one of the most important archaeological sites of Maya culture, along with Palenque, Chichen Itza and Calakmul i ...
and other
Puuc Puuc is the name of either a region in the Mexican state of Yucatán or a Maya architectural style prevalent in that region. The word ''puuc'' is derived from the Maya term for "hill". Since the Yucatán is relatively flat, this term was ext ...
region sites of the
Yucatán Yucatán (, also , , ; yua, Yúukatan ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Yucatán,; yua, link=no, Xóot' Noj Lu'umil Yúukatan. is one of the 31 states which comprise the political divisions of Mexico, federal entities of Mexico. I ...
, dating from around the late 9th-century decline of the
Maya Classical Era Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of prehispanic Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian (first human habitation until 3500 BCE); the Archaic (before 2600 BCE), the Preclassic or Formative (2500 BCE –  ...
. A particularly fine and intact inscription example survives at the extensive
Chichen Itza Chichen Itza , es, Chichén Itzá , often with the emphasis reversed in English to ; from yua, Chiʼchʼèen Ìitshaʼ () "at the mouth of the well of the Itza people" was a large pre-Columbian city built by the Maya people of the Terminal ...
site. Human sacrifice on a large scale was introduced to the Maya by the Toltecs from the appearances of the by the Chichen Itza ball courts. Six ball court reliefs at Chichen Itza depict the decapitation of a ball player; it seems that the losers would be beheaded and would have their skulls placed on the .Coe (2011) pg. 195-196 (or 210 in the 2015 edition)


Aztec era

The word is
Nahuatl Nahuatl (; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahua peoples, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller ...
and was used by the
Aztec The Aztecs () were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different Indigenous peoples of Mexico, ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those g ...
s to refer to the skull-racks found in many Aztec cities; The first and most prominent example is the (Great Skull-rack) located in the Aztec capital of
Tenochtitlan , ; es, Tenochtitlan also known as Mexico-Tenochtitlan, ; es, México-Tenochtitlan was a large Mexican in what is now the historic center of Mexico City. The exact date of the founding of the city is unclear. The date 13 March 1325 was ...
and described by the early conquistadors. There were at least five more skull racks in Tenochtitlan but by all accounts they were much smaller. According to
Bernal Díaz del Castillo Bernal Díaz del Castillo ( 1492 – 3 February 1584) was a Spanish conquistador, who participated as a soldier in the conquest of the Aztec Empire under Hernán Cortés and late in his life wrote an account of the events. As an experience ...
's eye-witness account, the , written several decades after the event, after
Hernán Cortés Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano, 1st Marquess of the Valley of Oaxaca (; ; 1485 – December 2, 1547) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of w ...
's expedition was forced to make their initial retreat from Tenochtitlan, the Aztecs erected a makeshift to display the severed heads of men and
horses The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...
they had captured from the invaders. This is depicted in the twelfth book of the ''
Florentine Codex The ''Florentine Codex'' is a 16th-century ethnographic research study in Mesoamerica by the Spanish Franciscan friar Bernardino de Sahagún. Sahagún originally titled it: ''La Historia General de las Cosas de Nueva España'' (in English: ''Th ...
''. This taunting is also depicted in an Aztec codex which relates the story, and the subsequent battles which led to the eventual capture of the city by the Spanish forces and their allies. During the stay of Cortes's expedition in the Aztec capital
Tenochtitlan , ; es, Tenochtitlan also known as Mexico-Tenochtitlan, ; es, México-Tenochtitlan was a large Mexican in what is now the historic center of Mexico City. The exact date of the founding of the city is unclear. The date 13 March 1325 was ...
(initially as guest-captives of the Emperor
Moctezuma II Moctezuma Xocoyotzin ( – 29 June 1520; oteːkˈsoːmaḁ ʃoːkoˈjoːt͡sĩn̥), nci-IPA, Motēuczōmah Xōcoyōtzin, moteːkʷˈsoːma ʃoːkoˈjoːtsin variant spellings include Motewksomah, Motecuhzomatzin, Montezuma, Moteuczoma, Motecu ...
, before the battle which would lead to the conquest), they reported a wooden altar adorned with the skulls from recent sacrifices. Within the complex of the
Templo Mayor The (Spanish: Main Temple) was the main temple of the Mexica people in their capital city of Tenochtitlan, which is now Mexico City. Its architectural style belongs to the late Postclassic period of Mesoamerica. The temple was called ' in ...
itself, a relief in
stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...
depicted these sacrifices; the remains of this relief have survived and may now be seen in the ruins in the
Zócalo The Zócalo () is the common name of the main square in central Mexico City. Prior to the colonial period, it was the main ceremonial center in the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan. The plaza used to be known simply as the "Main Square" or "Arms Sq ...
of present-day
Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
.


Preparation of

Excavations at
Templo Mayor The (Spanish: Main Temple) was the main temple of the Mexica people in their capital city of Tenochtitlan, which is now Mexico City. Its architectural style belongs to the late Postclassic period of Mesoamerica. The temple was called ' in ...
in the Aztec capital
Tenochtitlan , ; es, Tenochtitlan also known as Mexico-Tenochtitlan, ; es, México-Tenochtitlan was a large Mexican in what is now the historic center of Mexico City. The exact date of the founding of the city is unclear. The date 13 March 1325 was ...
have revealed many skulls belonging to women and children, in addition to those of men, a demonstration of the diversity of the human sacrifices in Aztec culture. After displaying severed heads, many scholars have determined that limbs of Aztec victims would be cannibalized Fray Diego Durán confirms this, stating that skulls were delivered to temples after "the flesh had been eaten".Durán, Diego. ''Book of the gods and rites and the ancient calendar''. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1971. Print Durán notes that the were periodically renovated. Regarding this, Durán states
When
he skulls He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
become old and deteriorated, they fell in pieces. When the palisade become old, however, it was renovated, and on its removal many kullsbroke. Others were removed to make room for more, so that there would be a place for those were to be killed later
Archeologist Eduardo Contreras believes that the tissue attached to skulls was removed prior to a pole being inserted through the side of the skulls. He bases these assumptions off of excavations of the Plaza de las Tres Culturas at Tlatelolco, Mexico City between 1960 and 1965.


The was the central found in Tenochtitlan. The skull rack here served as a reminder of the Aztec's ongoing Flowery Wars. An important aspect of
Aztec warfare Aztec warfare concerns the aspects associated with the militaristic conventions, forces, weaponry and strategic expansions conducted by the Late Postclassic Aztec civilizations of Mesoamerica, including particularly the military history of the Az ...
was the capture of enemy warriors to serve as sacrificial victims, which is evident from the number of warriors found sacrificed around Aztec structures. One conquistador,
Andrés de Tapia Andrés de Tapia (1498? - October 1561) was a Spanish soldier and chronicler. He participated in the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, also known as the Conquest of Mexico or the Spanish-Aztec War ( ...
, was given the task of counting the skulls on the at Tenochtitlan and estimated that there were 136,000 skulls on it. However, based on numbers given by Taipa and Fray
Diego Durán Diego Durán (c. 1537 – 1588) was a Dominican friar best known for his authorship of one of the earliest Western books on the history and culture of the Aztecs, ''The History of the Indies of New Spain'', a book that was much criticised in hi ...
, Bernard Ortiz de Montellano has calculated that there were at most 60,000 skulls on the of Tenochtitlan. The consisted of a massive masonry platform composed of “thirty long steps” measuring fully 60 meters in length by 30 meters wide at its summit. Atop of the aforementioned platform was erected an equally formidable wooden palisade and scaffolding consisting of between 60 and 70 massive uprights or timbers woven together with an impressive constellation of horizontal cross beams upon which were suspended the tens of thousands of decapitated human heads once impaled thereon. Regarding this, Bernal Díaz de Castillo states: Various scholarly interpretations of the cosmological importance of 's placement have emerged. l
Eduardo Matos Moctezuma Eduardo Matos Moctezuma (born December 11, 1940)  is a Mexican archaeologist. From 1978 to 1982 he directed excavations at the Templo Mayor, the remains of a major Aztec pyramid in central Mexico City. Matos Moctezuma graduated with a ma ...
claims that a central was placed north of the Templo Mayor. Moctezuma notes that no corresponding shrine was found south. Moctezuma also notes that Mexica views of the universe, which divide the universe into a horizontal and vertical plane, claim that the northern sector of the horizontal plane corresponds to Mictlampa, or the land of the dead. On the other hand, Rubén G. Mendoza contends that the was placed on an east–west axis between the Templo Mayor and a principal ball court. The Hueyi Tzompantli would have been aligned with the marker within the Templo Mayor dividing one half for Tlāloc and the other half for . Mendoza argues that as the sun traveled through the sky, it would have ascended into the "vault of the heavens", represented by the . Modern archeological evidence has found that this large palisade was flanked by two circular towers made out of skulls and mortar.


Historical depictions

There are numerous depictions of in
Aztec codices Aztec codices ( nah, Mēxihcatl āmoxtli , sing. ''codex'') are Mesoamerican manuscripts made by the pre-Columbian Aztec, and their Nahuatl-speaking descendants during the colonial period in Mexico. History Before the start of the Sp ...
, dating from around the time or shortly after the
Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, also known as the Conquest of Mexico or the Spanish-Aztec War (1519–21), was one of the primary events in the Spanish colonization of the Americas. There are multiple 16th-century narratives of the eve ...
, such as the '' Durán Codex'', ''
Ramírez Codex The ''Ramírez Codex'' (''Biblioteca Nacional de Antropología e Historia'', MNA 35-100), not to be confused with the Tovar Codex, is a post-conquest codex from the late 16th century entitled ''Relación del origen de los indios que hábitan esta ...
'', and ''
Codex Borgia The Codex Borgia ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Borg.mess.1), also known as ''Codex Borgianus'', ''Manuscrit de Veletri'' and ''Codex Yohualli Ehecatl'', is a pre-Columbian Middle American pictorial manuscript from Central Mexico featuring calendrica ...
''. The ''
Codex Mendoza The Codex Mendoza is an Aztec codex, believed to have been created around the year 1541. It contains a history of both the Aztec rulers and their conquests as well as a description of the daily life of pre-conquest Aztec society. The codex is wr ...
'' contains multiple depictions of . The Frontispiece of the ''Codex Mendoza'' depicts a holding single skull next to an eagle perched on a cactus. A similar depiction of a is used to represent the town of Tzompanco in the ''Codex Mendoza''. Folio 45v of the Codex Borgia depicts a platform adorned with skulls.


Recent excavations

Archaeologists affiliated with the
National Institute of Anthropology and History National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...
have taken part in a series of excavations since 2015 that have resulted in the finding of . These excavations took place near the
Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Assumption of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven ( es, Catedral Metropolitana de la Asunción de la Bienaventurada Virgen María a los cielos) is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mex ...
and included the finding of one tower. These excavations have revealed that women and children were sacrificed, although men made up 75% of the sacrificial victims.


Association and meaning

Apart from their use to display the skulls of ritualistically-executed war captives, often occur in the contexts of Mesoamerican ball courts, which were widespread throughout the region's civilizations and sites. The game was 'played for keeps' ending with the losing team being sacrificed. The captain of the winning team was tasked with taking the head of the losing team's captain to be displayed on a . In these contexts it appears that the was used to display the losers' heads of this often highly ritualised game. Not all games resulted in this outcome, however, and for those that did it is surmised that these participants were often notable captives. An alternative theory is that it was the captain of the winning team who lost his head, but there is little evidence that this was the case. Still, it is acknowledged that in Mesoamerican culture to be sacrificed was to be honored with feeding the gods. Tula, the former
Toltec The Toltec culture () was a Pre-Columbian era, pre-Columbian Mesoamerican culture that ruled a state centered in Tula (Mesoamerican site), Tula, Hidalgo (state), Hidalgo, Mexico, during the Epiclassic and the early Post-Classic period of Mesoam ...
capital, has a well-preserved inscription on its ball court. The association with ball courts is also reflected in the ''
Popol Vuh ''Popol Vuh'' (also ''Popol Wuj'' or ''Popul Vuh'' or ''Pop Vuj'') is a text recounting the mythology and history of the Kʼicheʼ people, one of the Maya peoples, who inhabit Guatemala and the Mexican states of Chiapas, Campeche, Yucatan and Q ...
'', the famous religious, mythological and cultural account of the K'iche' Maya. When
Hun Hunahpu Hun Hunahpu (pronounced ), or 'Head- Apu I' (a calendrical name) is a figure in Mayan mythology. According to ''Popol Vuh'' he was the father of the Maya Hero Twins, Head-Apu and Xbalanque. As their shared calendrical day name suggests, Head-Apu I w ...
, father of the
Maya Hero Twins The Maya Hero Twins are the central figures of a narrative included within the colonial Kʼicheʼ document called Popol Vuh, and constituting the oldest Maya myth to have been preserved in its entirety. Called Hunahpu and Xbalanque in the Kʼi ...
, was killed by the lords of the Underworld (
Xibalba (), roughly translated as "place of fright", is the name of the underworld (or quc, Mitnal) in Maya mythology, ruled by the Maya death gods and their helpers. In 16th-century Verapaz, the entrance to Xibalba was traditionally held to be a ...
), his head was hung in a
gourd Gourds include the fruits of some flowering plant species in the family Cucurbitaceae, particularly ''Cucurbita'' and ''Lagenaria''. The term refers to a number of species and subspecies, many with hard shells, and some without. One of the earli ...
tree next to a ball court. The gourd tree is a clear representation of a , and the image of skulls in trees as if they were fruits is also a common indicator of a and the associations with some of the game's metaphorical interpretations.


Gallery

File:The tzompantli or Skull Platform.JPG, Detail of at
Chichen Itza Chichen Itza , es, Chichén Itzá , often with the emphasis reversed in English to ; from yua, Chiʼchʼèen Ìitshaʼ () "at the mouth of the well of the Itza people" was a large pre-Columbian city built by the Maya people of the Terminal ...
File:Tzompantli Est 4.JPG, found at Monument Four of
Calixtlahuaca Calixtlahuaca (from the Nahuatl, where calli means "house", and ixtlahuatl means "prairie" or "plains", hence the translation would be "plains-house-place") is a Postclassic period Mesoamerican archaeological site, located near the present-day ...
File:Tzompantli in the Florentine Codex.png, The Twelfth Book of the ''
Florentine Codex The ''Florentine Codex'' is a 16th-century ethnographic research study in Mesoamerica by the Spanish Franciscan friar Bernardino de Sahagún. Sahagún originally titled it: ''La Historia General de las Cosas de Nueva España'' (in English: ''Th ...
'' shows the heads of captured Spanish soldiers and their horses displayed on a in front of the Temple of Huitzilopochtli. File:Tzompantli (Templo Mayor) - Ciudad de México.jpg, An excavated from the
Templo Mayor The (Spanish: Main Temple) was the main temple of the Mexica people in their capital city of Tenochtitlan, which is now Mexico City. Its architectural style belongs to the late Postclassic period of Mesoamerica. The temple was called ' in ...
in modern-day Mexico City File:Tzompantli Detail.jpg, Replica of a in the in Mexico City File:Tzompantli.jpg, at the Museum of the
Templo Mayor The (Spanish: Main Temple) was the main temple of the Mexica people in their capital city of Tenochtitlan, which is now Mexico City. Its architectural style belongs to the late Postclassic period of Mesoamerica. The temple was called ' in ...
. File:Tzompantli in Codex Borgia.png, as depicted in ''Codex Borgia'' File:Tzompantli in Codex Vaticanus 3778.png, in ''Codex Vaticanus'' 3778, a facsimile of the ''
Codex Ríos ''Codex Ríos'' is an Italian translation and augmentation of a Spanish colonial-era manuscript, Codex Telleriano-Remensis, that is partially attributed to Pedro de los Ríos, a Dominican friar working in Oaxaca and Puebla between 1547 and 1562. ...
'' File:Tzompantli in Codex Mendoza.jpg, A simplified represents the town of Tzompanco in the ''Codex Mendoza''


Contemporary uses

have been the subject of multiple artworks created during the twentieth century.
Jose Chavez Morado Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods. * Jose ben Abin * Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Galile ...
depicted in a 1961 painting. George O. Jackson, as part of his ''Essence of Mexico'' project, photographed various representations of skulls, which he refers to as (the
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
word for 'skulls'); Jackson refers to groups of these photos as . were also the subject of murals created for the festival Mextonia, which celebrates Mexican culture and occurs in Estonia, by the art collective Nueve Arte Urbano. The featured an exhibit titled , which featured works made by various artists depicting skulls.


See also

*
Skull Chapel, Czermna The Skull Chapel ( pl, Kaplica Czaszek) or St. Bartholomew's Church, is an ossuary chapel located in the Czermna district of Kudowa-Zdrój, Poland. Built in Baroque style in the last quarter of the 18th century, the temple serves as a mass grav ...
*
Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini (Our Lady of the Conception of the Capuchins) is a Roman Catholic church located at Via Vittorio Veneto, 27, just north of the Piazza Barberini, in Rome, Italy. It was designed by architect Felice ...
*
Sedlec Ossuary The Sedlec Ossuary ( cs, Kostnice v Sedlci; german: Sedletz-Beinhaus) is a Roman Catholic chapel, located beneath the Cemetery Church of All Saints (Czech: ), part of the former Sedlec Abbey in Sedlec, a suburb of Kutná Hora in the Czech Repub ...
*
Capela dos Ossos Capela may refer to: Places *Capela (Penafiel), a parish in Penafiel Municipality, Portugal * Capela, Sergipe, a municipality in the Brazilian state of Sergipe * Capela, Alagoas, a municipality in the Brazilian state of Alagoas * Capela, Râmni ...
*
Skull Tower Skull Tower ( sr-cyr, Ћеле кула, Ćele kula, ) is a stone structure embedded with human skulls located in Niš, Serbia. It was constructed by the Ottoman Empire following the Battle of Čegar of May 1809, during the First Serbian Uprisin ...
*
Headhunting Headhunting is the practice of hunting a human and collecting the severed head after killing the victim, although sometimes more portable body parts (such as ear, nose or scalp) are taken instead as trophies. Headhunting was practiced in hi ...
* Tzompantli band


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{cite book , last=Diaz del Castillo , first=Bernal , translator=J. M. Cohen , title=Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España , trans-title=The Conquest of New Spain , publisher=Penguin Group , location=New York , year=1963 , isbn=978-0140441239 , url=https://archive.org/details/conquestofnewspa00diaz Aztec society Human head and neck Human trophy collecting Maya society Mesoamerican warfare Mesoamerica Cannibalism in North America