Who Makes the Cut? What the Skull Masks and Skulls of the Templo Mayor Tell Us About Aztec War and Sacrifice : Corey Ragsdale

On March 26, 2014, Corey presented his research at the Latin American & Iberian Institute.

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This research was supported by a LAII and Tinker Foundation Field Research Grant and LAII PhD Fellowship.

Corey's research focuses on the effects that cultural relationships have on population structure and interaction during the Postclassic period (AD 900-1520) in Mexico. Using dental morphological features as a proxy for genetic information, his research compares the biological distinctions between sacrificial victims by examining geographic distance, migration history, trade, and political interaction. The research investigates these relationships at the group and individual levels. 

In this video, Corey discusses the archaeobiological information provided by the skulls from the Templo Mayor, located in the Aztec capital city of Tenochtitlan. Using available cranial/dental data among the sacrificial victims, he evaluates how war and status effect the treatment of human remains in the Late Postclassic period (AD 1300-1520) at Tenochtitlan.