Archaeological site in Mexico reveals sacrifice and cannibalization of Spanish conquistadors

Excavations at the Zultepec-Tecoaque archaeological site in Tlaxcala, Mexico, have revealed that indigenous Acolhuas peoples of Mexico captured a caravan of 550 conquistadors and their allies in 1520, kept them in captivity, and ate them over a period of nine months. It is believed the conquistadors were sacrificed to seek protection from their deities against the arrival of invaders.

Hernán Cortés, the Spanish usurper of Mexico at the time, was in the caravan to Tenochtitlan but rode ahead to help put down a rebellion in Mexico City before the Acolhuas party struck. The caravan comprised people of Spanish, Cuban-African and Mexican- Indian descent, whom the Acolhuas viewed as invaders that needed to be stopped.