The capital of the Aztec empire was Tenochtitlan. Tenochtitlan was located in what is now called Mexico City. Templo mayor, located in Tenochtitlan, was a main temple for sacrifices built for the God of war and rain (Roos 2018: 1).

The Aztec empire began as a small settlement in a swampland This was where the capital, Tenochtitlan, would reside (NationalGeographicSociety 2020: 1). Their society would then grow after the adoption of the Aztec triple alliance, making conquering land more easier. Methods like intensive agriculture and ways of irrigation as well as hunting and fishing supported this growth as a civilization between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries. In turn the Aztecs developed a strong military and a complex educational and social system (History 2009: 1).

Sacrifices were preformed based off of calendar patterns.

• Children sacrificial ceremonies happened the first month of the "ritual year"(Carrasco 2013: 217).

• Women made-up a third of the sacrifices each year (Carrasco 2013: 223).

Children were sacrificed to the God of rain, Tlaloc. This was in hopes of rain for agriculture and good fertility. Children were made to cry before being sacrificed, as tears were seen as a purity (Maestri 2019: 1).

Teenage females would be moved from "a marketplace to Moctezuma's bedchamber to sacrificial stone and, finally, to the frontier of a war zone"(Carrasco 2013: 223). This was to distract her from her fate at the sacrificial stone. It was believed that if one wept warriors and women in childbirth would die. For this reason female sacrifices would not know of their fate. After being sacrificed, they would be skinned and worn around till they reached the battlefield.

High priests would typically preform sacrificial ceremonies at the tops of temples, like Templo Mayor. While alive, the priest would use a blade to cut open the chest of the person and remove the heart. The heart was then offered to the Gods and sometimes eaten by the priest. The body would then be discarded down the steps of the temple (Roos 2018: 1). Their skulls would then be put on racks called tzompantli. Sacrifices tended to be willing and seen as an honor.

The practice of sacrifice in Aztec culture was rooted in cosmology and religious beliefs. It was said that the God of sun, Huitzilopochtli was at war with darkness and needed human hearts and blood to survive. If the darkness won the Aztecs feared world destruction (Roos 2018: 1). Sacrifices were seen as debt to pay to the Gods as opposed to offerings (Carrasco 2013: 217).

Along with being a religious ritual, it was sought to prevent and reverse droughts and famine based off a calendar cycle. Sacrifices were also dedicated to the formation of new temples (Roos 2018: 1).

Cannibalism was also widely practiced with sacrificial rituals, leading some to believe its possible creation from famines (Winkelman 1998).

Sacrifices also held an important aspect in control and intimidation. A good percent of people sacrificed were slaves of war from the Flowerwars. This helped with power expansion as well as intimidation for outsiders when they came across the tzompantli, rack of skulls (Roos 2018: 1). It was also used as a control aspect for the citizens, it taught that the "ideal death, the 'true' death for the warrior and others" was by sacrifice (Carrasco 2013: 217). This impacted the strength of their army tremendously by giving honor behind a warriors death.