PXL_20250425_172036625

Sat, 14 Feb 2026 07:49:22 +0100

Tzompantli, “wall of skulls”
From Tecoaque, Tlavela

From the beginning of 1521, Indigenous people and Europeans clashed fiercely over the conquest and defense of Tenochtitlan. The chronicles recount both the massacres carried out by the Europeans and the fate of the prisoners who fell into Mexica hands. Here is displayed one of the last remaining pre-Hispanic material remains: a tzompantli, or altar, made from the skulls of prisoners sacrificed by the Acolhua in Tecoaque (ancient Zultepec), Tlaxcala, discovered in May 1993. The accounts coincide with the archaeological find: it consists of twelve skulls, five of Spaniards from the company of Juan de Yuste, and seven of Cempoalan Indigenous people, allies of the conquistadors.