Aztecs, pioneers of gender equality

[+OverSword]

No kidding.  This is the actual headline of the article:

 

Quote

 

Archaeologists discover a gruesome tower of skulls in Mexico City

Pioneers of gender equality, the Aztecs sacrificed women as well as men

THE Aztecs were not gracious victors. Their prisoners of war were frequently used for human sacrifice, as part of spectacles in which their hearts would be ripped from their bodies by priests, to be offered, still beating, to the gods. Their heads fared no better, usually ending up in a kind of skull wall, called a tzompantli in Nahuatl, the Aztec language. In its typical form it consisted of a platform, with posts connected by crossbeams onto which skulls would be threaded. Tzompantlis were generally placed in front of temples, so that friend and foe alike would be awed by the state’s power.

 

Link

[lightly]

Wow.   They had some gruesome practices... Humans are a strange breed.

[darkmoonlady]

Academics are some of the worst offenders for terrible treatment of women so yes, crappy and stupid title for sure. Ritual human sacrifice is not an example of gender equality. 

[Wickian]

57 minutes ago, darkmoonlady said:

Academics are some of the worst offenders for terrible treatment of women so yes, crappy and stupid title for sure. Ritual human sacrifice is not an example of gender equality. 

You would think women would be sacrificed more often than men considering male slaves were more productive as far as physical labor went.

[Alchopwn]

12 hours ago, darkmoonlady said:

Academics are some of the worst offenders for terrible treatment of women so yes, crappy and stupid title for sure. Ritual human sacrifice is not an example of gender equality. 

But the Aztecs were clearly equal opportunity human sacrificers...  Remember that normally women only had to face the "battle" of childbirth in Aztec society, so allowing them to enjoy a male warrior's fate was at least a little progressive, in much the same way that letting women serve in front line combat units is sort of progressive too.  Both represent women being allowed into what was pretty much a male only warrior culture.

Edited May 24, 2019 by Alchopwn