People eaten, pigs left: Mexican archaeologists find tale of cannibalism and brutal killings

A new study claimed that Spanish conquistadores butchered several women, children, Spaniards and people of other groups and even ate Spaniards.

The study's findings that were published on Monday by the National Institute of Anthropology and History were based on the excavation at the town of Tecoaque, which means "the place where they ate them" in the Nahuatl language of the Aztecs, reports news agency Associated Press.

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A convoy of close to 15 male Spaniards, 50 women and 10 children, 45-foot soldiers, including Cubans of African and Indigenous descent, and approximate 350 allies from Indigenous groups in 1520 was captured by the residents of Tecoaque, also known as Zultepec.

All these people were massacred in the months later.

When conquistador Hernán Cortés was informed about the brutal incident, he ordered the destruction of the town in early 1521.

Archaeologist Enrique Martínez Vargas said the excavations suggest that people of Tecoaque were aware of retaliation and in a hush-hush manner, threw the bones of the ones sacrificed and other evidence into shallow wells.

These residents also tried to install primitive defensive works to stop the attack, but it failed after Cortés' men arrived for the onslaught.

"Some of the warriors who had stayed in the town managed to flee, but women and children remained, and they were the main victims," the institute in a statement said.

The excavations images show children's bones lying along with those of the adult females.

"The placement of the burials suggest these people were fleeing, were massacred and buried hurriedly," the institute added.

"Women and children who were sheltering inside rooms were mutilated, as evidenced by the discovery of hacked bones on the floors. The temples were burned and the statues were decapitated."

Both the parties involved in this situation showed brutality in Tecoaque.

The heads of some Spanish women that were captured were hung in the skulls rack and an analysis showed that the women were pregnant.

The people of the convoy were held prisoners and fed over six months, the experts said.

In some time, the town sacrificed and apparently ate the horses, men and women.

However, pigs that were brought by the Spaniards for food were apparently viewed with such scepticism that they were killed and left uneaten.