• DOI:10.1126/science.200.4342.611
Corpus ID: 35652641

Aztec Cannibalism: An Ecological Necessity?

@article{Montellano1978AztecCA,
  title={Aztec Cannibalism: An Ecological Necessity?},
  author={B. R. de Montellano},
  journal={Science},
  year={1978},
  volume={200},
  pages={611 - 617}
}

• B. R. de Montellano
• Published 1978
• Medicine
• Science

It has been proposed that Aztec human sacrifice and cannibalism can best be explained as a response to population pressure and famine. The greatest amount of cannibalism, however, coincided with times of harvest, not with periods of scarcity, and is better explained as a thanksgiving. Tenochtitlan recevied large quantities of food tribute and engaged in intensive (chinampa) agriculture. These two sources alone would have provided enough to feed practically the entire population of the city. The… Expand

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