THREE WEEKS PASSED AND ANNA called Pat Kennedy to announce the completion of the translation from Old Spanish and Nahuatl to English.
‘Excellent news Anna. Have you discovered anything interesting?’
‘It depends, all the plants have been identified by Phytotech’s team, most of which are generally known to botanists. But there are a few pages that struck me as being different from the rest.’
‘Oh, and what are they?’
‘They’re to do with sacrifices, sacred plants and ritual drinks.’
‘Sacrifices?’
‘Yes Pat, human sacrifices.’
‘Jesus,’ he exclaimed, even though that kind of Aztec practice was nothing new to him.
As soon as the Spanish conquistadors arrived in the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, they were witnesses to human sacrifices when the priests cut open the chests of sacrificial victims and offered their still-beating hearts to their gods, Tlaloc and Huitzilopochtl. The lifeless bodies of their victims were then thrown down the stairway of the Grand Temple which towered as high as a fifteen story building.
Legend said the temple was flanked by a display made entirely of human skulls mounted on wood poles, a story long dismissed by historians, until in 2015 and 2018 archaeologists found the towers and racks of skulls described by the Spanish.
The Spanish historian Friar Diego de Duran reported that over 80,000 men, women and children were sacrificed for the enthronement of Moctezuma's predecessor.
Human sacrifice was an essential part of Aztec beliefs and civilisation. DNA tests showed the victims to be outsiders, probably slaves and captives. Sacrifice was a message, a threat, a warning to enemies and subject peoples, in the same way as Rome used slaves in gladiatorial games or the killing of servants and captives for the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs and Chinese emperors.
The Aztecs, like other pre-Columbian civilisations, waged war to capture prisoners to supply their endless need for sacrificial victims. Worse still, the headless bodies served as ritual food for the upper classes of Aztec society, confirmed by images showing body parts being eaten and confirmed by the trace of knife cuts on the victims’ bones found by archaeologists at sites around Mexico City.
The consumption human blood and flesh was a ritual part of Aztec life.
‘They used the victims blood to make concoctions for the emperor and priests to drink on special occasions.’
‘Barbaric.’
‘They describe the concoction which was made from different plants, one is related to Solanum lycopersicum, that is a tomato plant, a species that originated in western South America and Central America, could be interesting as it’s an important source of antioxidants and phytochemicals.’
‘Interesting.’
‘It’s here,’ she held up a copy of the page, ‘the Nahuatl glyph, even a picture of a sacrifice,’ she pointed to an image, ‘look.’
‘The other is a creosote bush.’
‘Creosote,’ exclaimed Pat wrinkling his nose.
‘Yes, Larrea tridentata, it belongs to the Zygophyllaceae family … a source of NDGA.’
‘NDGA?’
‘Nordihydroguaiaretic acid.’
‘Hmm ... I’ve heard of that, remind me what it’s used for?’
‘I’m not a specialist, but looking it up I’ve read that a study was carried out by feeding mosquitoes with NDGA to test the effect on their average life span.’
‘Did it work?’
‘Yes, their life span was increased by 50%.’
Pat was now very attentive.
‘In other studies various phytochemicals have increased the lifespan of yeasts, worms, flies, bees, mosquitoes, fish, laboratory mice, and laboratory rats.’
Pat smiled.
‘Tejate is also described as one of ritual drinks mixed creosote leaves.’
‘Tejate?’
‘It’s made from cacao, maize and mamey sapote, that's the fruit of a Mexican tree, Pouteria sapota, which like cacao is rich in antioxidants which have a strong cytotoxic activity.’
‘Cytotoxic?’
‘Cell killers, cancer cell killers, something to do with scavenging ….’
‘Fantastic. Have you spoke with Michel and Henri?’
‘No.’
‘I’ll speak with them. We should get together to discuss this Anna. When are you free.’
‘I’ll be in Paris next week with Dee, we’re planning a trip to San Francisco. I’ll also be attending a conference at the Getty Center in Santa Monica, Luis is giving a paper and we’ll visit his botanical reserve.’
‘Great, speak to Dee, we can have lunch together before you leave if you can manage that.’
‘I’ll do that Pat.’