Were countless human sacrifices made to Aztec and Mayan gods?
Both the Aztec and, to a lesser extent, the earlier Mayan cultures performed human sacrifice and cannibalism as part of their religious rites. The number and frequency of the sacrifices may have been exaggerated by the Spanish to portray the Aztecs in as poor a light as possible. However, records exist that indicate the number of sacrifices sharply increased after the arrival of the Spanish. As the Aztec civilization collapsed, under attack from both the Spanish military and European diseases, increasing numbers of human sacrifices were made in attempts to appease their gods and to seek favour from them in their plight.
