There are many myths about the indigenous population of America - Indian tribes, connected both with their life before the discovery of the continent by Columbus, and with the era of colonization. But not all of them are true, and there are more and more mysteries.
It is believed that the Spanish conquistadors colonized the unfortunate Indians. Meanwhile, hundreds of Spaniards a year after the landing of Hernan Cortez in Mexico were captured by local residents and sacrificed or even eaten. To this conclusion, scientists have led the results of excavations of the town of Sultepec-Tecoake to the east of Mexico City. There were found the remains of people of clearly European origin.
Chronicles tell about what happened in those distant times. In 1520, a Spanish convoy headed for the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan. The escorts carried supplies with them for the conquerors who had previously occupied these lands. But in Sultepec-Tecoaca, the convoy was captured by the allies of the Aztecs - the Acolua Indians. Among the captives, judging by the skulls found during the excavation, were 15 Spaniards, 45 Cuban infantrymen of African and Indian descent, 350 Indians who were allies of the Spaniards, as well as about 50 women and 10 children.
Human sacrifice. Image from the Aztec Codex Malabekki
The prisoners were kept in dungeons without doors for six months. Food was passed to them through small windows knocked out in the wall. For women and children, no exception was made. Dismembered female remains were found in the central city square of Sultepec Tekoake. Among the pelvic bones lay the skull of a one-year-old child. Perhaps it was some kind of ritual.
All captives were subsequently killed. Some were sacrificed, others were simply eaten. Yes, the acolyuas did not hesitate to eat human meat. The meat of the horses, which the Spaniards brought with them, was also used. But the pigs, which the guards also took with them, did not eat.
Skeletons of the sacrificed Spaniards. Museum of the archaeological complex of Sultepec-Tekoake
The head of the archaeological expedition, Enrique Martinez, commented on the findings:
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The pigs were sacrificed and their remains were placed in pits, but there is no evidence that they were eaten. Unlike pig remains, human skeletons have been split apart. Cut marks indicate that the meat has been removed from the bones.
By the way, the second part of the name of the city of Tekoake in the Nahuatl language means "the place where they ate them." When the soldiers of Cortez returned to the Indian city they had abandoned earlier, they saw the heads of the guards strung on wooden stakes, and next to them were the skulls of horses.
Cortez was informed of what had happened and ordered a retaliatory squadron to be sent to Sultepec Tecoaca. But the natives knew about it in advance. They threw the remains of the Spaniards into shallow pits and left the city to avoid white retaliation.
The myth of the backwardness of the Indians is refuted by a find made in the ruins of the ancient Peruvian city of Chan Chan. It is believed that the world's first samples of phones appeared in the middle of the 19th century. Nevertheless, a device was found in Peru that clearly served for communication. It was made by the Chimu Indians inhabiting these places. The age of the apparatus, according to experts, ranges from 1200 to 1400 years.
Ancient "telephone"
The artifact ended up in the hands of the Prussian baron Walram von Scholer, who was passionate about archeology and who participated in excavations in Peru in the 30s of the last century. The Baron collected an extensive collection of finds, which he then donated to museums. The "telephone" ended up in the vault of the National Museum of the American Indian in Maryland.
True, the find resembles a modern phone very remotely. The apparatus used by the chimu consisted of two gourds, 8.9 centimeters long, connected by a 23-meter long cotton cord. Both pumpkins, which played the role of transmitters and receivers of sound, were coated with a substance like rubber and equipped with leather membranes. As you can see, it was quite an advanced invention for that time. However, it would have looked like this in the 19th century.
The most surprising thing is that the Chimu, who inhabited the Rio Moche Valley in northern Peru, did not even have a written language. However, they were a fairly advanced civilization. Their state was called Chimor, whose capital was Chan Chan, the largest South American city built by the Indians. Its area was almost 20 square kilometers, and the population by 1200 reached 100 thousand.
Ruins of Chan-Chan city
The city buildings were constructed from sun-dried clay and decorated with numerous sculptures, reliefs and ornaments.
Matos, a specialist in archeology and anthropology of the Central Andes, claims that the Chimu had knowledge of engineering. Metal products, remains of a hydraulic irrigation system and other artifacts were found in the city. It is known that the state of Chimor reached its heyday around 900, but after the conquest of these lands by the Incas in 1470 it fell into decay.
It is curious that only one copy of the "telephone" was found, which could indicate its existence only in a single version. Most likely, it was owned by representatives of the elite.
The rulers of the Inca empire were considered the descendants of the gods. Oddly enough, they even outwardly were very different from their subjects: they were bearded and had fair skin. The Inca kings generally did not resemble the ordinary representatives of the indigenous population of America. This was also noted by the conquistadors who had occasion to encounter them. There is a hypothesis that the Incas were ruled by Europeans who once, in time immemorial, arrived on the continent.
The figure of a bearded man with round eyes. Mexico City, Mexico
And there is evidence of this. While excavating the ruins of an ancient temple in the Peruvian province of Chiclayo, archaeologists stumbled upon a secret room in which the remains of six murdered women lay. Since the bodies were in unnatural postures, the scientists concluded that a sacrifice was performed here. Apparently, the room was intended for this kind of rituals.
The ruins of the temple are located in the Pukala area, 30 kilometers from the capital Chiclayo. It belongs to the Sican culture that existed on the northern coast of what is now Peru in about 750-1375. Subsequently, these lands were captured by the Chimu kingdom, which then became part of the Inca empire. It is possible that the Incas borrowed some rituals from the Sican civilization, including the ceremonies of human sacrifice.
The Incas usually made sacrifices in honor of deities, of whom there were at least several dozen in their pantheon. Inti, the sun god, and Viracocha, who was considered the supreme deity, stood out.
Viracocha was portrayed as a white-skinned bearded man in a long robe. According to myths, he came from the sea. Some tribes called him Inga Viracocha, which means sea foam. With him were other white bearded people of enormous stature. They climbed in reed boats to the shores of Lake Titicaca and built the great stone city of Tiahuanaco. From there, Viracocha sent out messengers who were supposed to teach the local population the wisdom of the gods. Viracocha also called himself God and claimed that it was he who created the world. However, not everyone believed him and obeyed, and then the offended Viracocha, together with his companions, went down to the Pacific Ocean and went west - where the sun sets.
Viracocha
There is a version that the "white gods" came to America from the European continent. And they were, of course, ordinary people, not deities. According to legend, the white giants married local women. From them the Inca tribe was born. It is known that the Incas differed from the rest of the Indians in their lighter skin and the shape of the skull, not to mention intellectual development.
Legends about the white gods were preserved among other tribes. The legends of the Chibcha, who lived in the mountains of Colombia, mention the "white teacher" Bochik (he was also called Sua - "Sun"). The Mexican Aztecs gave the white deity the name Quetzalcoatl. The Maya Indians called their "white god" Kukulkan. According to legends, Kukulkan and his 12 disciples built pyramids and founded the cities of Mayapan and Chichen Itza, taught the Maya to use weapons. And then they left the country, heading west.
If we compare all these legends, it becomes clear that the path of the mysterious white bearded man and his assistants lay through all of Central and South America from the coast of Yucatan to the coast of Peru, and then along the sea westward, towards Polynesia.
Tamara Troyanova