2002/07/01 by Barry L. Isaac · 2 citations
Arts and Humanities · #Latin American history and culture #Cannibalism #Indigenous #Ethnology #Geography #History #Ecology #Biology
paper · doi:10.1086/jar.58.2.3631036
openalex publication_date 2002/07/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
This article presents the first systematic analysis of the statements on prehispanic cannibalism in the 1577-1586 Relaciones Geográficas (RGs) for Nueva Galicia and Nueva España provinces of New Spain, an area occupied by the Aztecs and their closest neighbors. Forty of the 105 RGs analyzed, from widely scattered locales in the two provinces, allege cannibalism. In both their content and their inherent limitations as a database, these mainly rural reports are very similar to the well-known, intensive, largely urban studies of Aztec culture made in the sixteenth century (e.g., by Durán and Sahagún). While the Spanish/mestizo RG authors who offered damning assessments of Indian culture or character were more likely to allege cannibalism, those whose greater interest in indigenous culture is reflected in their lengthier reports on it also mention the practice. At the same time, the statements on cannibalism were directly attributed to Indian informants in 18 (45 percent) of the 40 RGs alleging cannibalism.