October 9, 2015

Decapitated Spaniards from 1520 Convoy Uncovered at the site of Zultepec-Tecoaque

In 1520 CE, the Alcohua town of Zultepec-Tecoaque captured a supply convoy of 15 Spaniards and 45 foot soldiers of Cuban and African descent, women and 350 Indian allies a year after the conquest of Tenochtitlan. The townspeople carved clay figurines of the captives, and sumbolically decapitated the figurines. The captives were then sacrificed and eaten. The captives were held in cells for six months and then all were slowly cannibalized, to ask the gods for protection from them. The pigs the Spaniards brought were left uneaten. These would have been strange creatures to the invaded. The captives were torn apart and the meat removed from their bones. One woman was found dismembered with the skull of a one year old placed in her pelvis. Spanish valuables like majolica china, jewelry, spurs, stirrups were tossed into wells. A horse’s rib bone was carved into a musical instrument. The heads of the captives were placed on a skull rack. Cortes dispatched a punitive expedition. The townspeople then hid all of the remains of the Spaniards, which has allowed archaeologists to find the remains.

CTV News has the report here from INAH;
http://www.ctvnews.ca/sci-tech/excavation-of-mexican-site-reveals-decapitation-of-conquistadors-1.2602422

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