Human sacrifice, a feature of all Meso-American and Andean religions, has often given rise to the portrayal of the American civilizations as particularly cruel and backward, and it has to be admitted that the practice is so alien to our way of thinking that an objective assessment is very difficult.
Accounts on the extent of the practice vary widely. Without doubt the largest number of human sacrificial offerings were made by the Aztecs. Berdan (1982) quotes reports on the dedication of the great dual temple in Tenochtitlán in 1487 that range from 80,400 captives sacrificed over a four day period (according to a Spanish account) to 20,000 in the Codex Telleriano-Remensis (an Aztec manuscript).
Even if these figures represent an extreme event, regular monthly or fortnightly human sacrifice was practiced by the Aztecs, the Incas, the Mayas and others. It has to be understood that human sacrifice was accepted as part of everyday life, that everyone was a potential candidate for sacrifice, and that it was considered an honour when fate determined one's death on the altar. Some wars between the Aztecs and the neighbouring Tlaxcallans and Huexotzincos were fought periodically by mutual agreement with the sole purpose to obtain prisoners of war for future sacrifice.
The need for regular human sacrifice as nourishment for the Sun was a core aspect of Aztec religion. Persons selected for sacrifice did not see themselves as victims but felt honoured to have been chosen. Many records report that men captured in battle and offered life insisted on seeing their destiny fulfilled through death on the altar. When the Aztecs captured the Tlaxcallan leader Tlahuicole they offered him a military command in their army. Tlahuicole served them in a war against the Tarascans but then insisted on being sacrificed. The fact that Montezuma II was captured by the Spanish but was then kept imprisoned rather than sacrificed greatly affected the morale of defenders of Tenochtitlán and contributed significantly to its fall.
The Incas practiced human sacrifice, but on a much lesser scale than the Aztecs, predominantly in situations of famine, pestilence and defeat in war and when a new emperor began his rule. On severe occasions 200 children would be feasted to be sacrificed as healthy offerings to the gods, but regular offerings consisted of much smaller numbers.
One way towards an objective assessment of human sacrifice in pre-Columbian civilizations is a comparison with the Roman civilization, which is generally held in high regard as the ancestor of the "Western World." It is well known that Rome practiced human sacrifice for public entertainment. Gladiators were kept and trained to die a cruel death for the amusement of spectators.
Gladiator fights were held in public arenas and involved fighting in pairs that ended in the death of one of the combatants (unless the spectators granted clemency, a rare event). The extent of human sacrifice in a gladiator battle can therefore be estimated by the number of paired fights.
The first recorded gladiator show, staged in 264 BC, involved three gladiator pairs. By the time of Julius Caesar (44 BC) typical shows had increased in size to 300 pairs and ran over several days. Under emperor Titus (80 AD) gladiator shows ran for a hundred days, and emperor Trajan celebrated a military success in 107 with a show that involved 5,000 pairs. The question remains whether it is more acceptable to sacrifice humans for public entertainment or because of the religious conviction that without it the Sun will never rise again and the world will come to an end.
It has of course to be kept in mind that in a developed society religion becomes a means of control as well. Priests were the most powerful personalities in pre-Columbian societies, and human sacrifice was also used to maintain control over the population. When the Aztecs left their ancestral homeland in search for a new place to settle they built a temple for Huitzilopochtli wherever they stopped. On one occasion they had stopped near Tula, but the priests declared that Huitzilopochtli had commanded them to move on. Some Aztecs found the place inviting enough and did not want to leave; they were sacrificed in the cover of night. (Berdan, 1982)
Berdan, F. F. (1982) The Aztecs of Central Mexico. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York.
Gladiators. Encyclopaedia Britannica 15th edition (1995).