Tzompantli

Tzompantli was an altar in the form of a frame where a set of skulls

were mounted before public view in order to honor the gods. It is a

structure that is believed to have derived from the practice among

ancient Mesoamericans of decapitating victims of human sacrifice and

keeping their skulls in a kind of wooden palisade for public display.1

The sacrificed victims were not only captive warriors of war but also

slaves or other victims chosen especially for certain celebrations. A

kind of palisade or platform was used on which the heads or skulls

were placed inserted after drilling a hole. Early Postclassic (c. 900-

1250).3 In 2017, archaeologists announced the discovery of what is

known as the Huey Tzompantli, with more than 650 skulls, in the

archaeological zone of the Templo Mayor in Mexico City.4