Bibliographical Essay

Much evidence on human ritual violence before 1500 comes from the study of human remains in their archaeological context by the application of modern scientific methods. How much information can be gained from detailed studies of elite burials is shown by Vera Tiesler and Andrea Cucina (eds.), Janaab' Pakal de Palenque: vida y muerte de un gobernante Maya (Mexico City: UNAM, 2004) and Walter Alva in the fascinating description of the archaeological excavation at the Huaca Rajada (Peru) in Gold aus dem alten Peru: Die Konigsgraber von Sipan (Bonn: Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, 2001).

Important essays on ritual human sacrifice in Mesoamerica are collected in Elizabeth Hill Boone (ed.), Ritual Human Sacrifice in Mesoamerica (Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 1984) and Leonardo Lopez Lujan and Guilhem Olivier (eds.), El sacrificio humano en la tradition religiosa mesoamericana (Mexico City: INAH, 2010).

Numerous studies exist on Aztec religion and human sacrifice. In his City of Sacrifice: The Aztec Empire and the Role of Violence in Civilization (Boston: Beacon Press, 1999) David Carrasco gives a good overview. The energetic dimension of Aztec ritual violence is particularly focused by Christian Duverger, La flor letal: economia del sacrificio Azteca (Mexico City: Fondo de Cultura Economica, 1983). The idea of embodiment has opened a new field of research. However, the pioneer study on the perceptions of the body and the animistic forces among the Nahua is by Alfredo Lopez Austin, The Human Body and Ideology: Concepts of the Ancient Nahuas, 2 vols.

On ritual violence in the Andean region see Elizabeth P. Benson and Anita G. Cook (eds.), Ritual Sacrifice in Ancient Peru (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2001) and John W. Verano, ‘Trophy Head-Taking and Human Sacrifice in Andean South America', in H. Silverman and W. H. Isbell (eds.), Handbook of South American Archaeology (New York: Springer, 2008), pp. 1,045-58 with a valuable overview and references to numerous case studies.

On ritual violence in Moche culture, see especially Steve Bourget, Sacrifice, Violence, and Ideology among the Moche: The Rise of Social Complexity in Ancient Peru (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2016). Inca sacrificial rituals are discussed in the classic study by Colin McEwen and Maarten Van de Guchte, ‘Ancestral Time and Sacred Space in Inca State Ritual', in R. F. Townsend (ed.), The Ancient Americas: Art from Sacred Landscapes (Chicago: Chicago Art Institute, 1992), pp. 359-71 and Johan Reinhard and Maria Constanza Ceruti, Inca Rituals and Sacred Mountains: A Study of the World's Highest Archaeological Sites (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2010).

An important contribution the comparison of the Aztec and Inca states is George. A. Collier, Renato I. Rosaldo and John D. Wirth (eds.), The Inca and Aztec States, 1400-1800: Anthropology and History (New York: Academic Press, 1982).