Los tarascos ante el sacrificio humano
The Tarascans in the Face of Human Sacrifice

Summary/Abstract: The aim of this text is to elucidate the logical principles of human sacrifice among the Tarascans. We start by analyzing sixteenth- and seventeenth-century documentary sources in search of the uses of the bodies of victims and the results of the labor invested in the ceremony. From this perspective, although the ritual oblation ritual oblation can be interpreted as a gift or an act of communication with the deities, the most important aspect is that goods are transferred to different types of people and groups. Thus, we conclude that the type of sacrifice carried out by the inhabitants of ancient Michoacan must be seen as a complex process of energy redistribution capable of affecting different types of entities; following an accumulative principle, this begins with the concentration of merits for the work, it continues with the transformation of the victim into potential benefits, and it culminates in the dispersion of benefits among allies.

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