PRE-HISPANIC OFFERINGS: ORIGIN, CHARACTERISTICS, CIVILIZATIONS - HISTORY - 2024

Pre- Hispanic offerings were acts that consisted of offering the deceased fruits, food, human life, flowers and incense on an altar in order to illuminate their soul. For pre-Hispanic cultures, the true life of light and eternity was after earthly life.

This type of ritual is also known as "altar to death" and received the name of tzompantli. To this day, these offerings have been modified and reformulated by the introduction of Christian offerings in America. However, in Mexico an important syncretism has been achieved that integrates both offerings into one.

In pre-Hispanic times, a multi-colored altar was made, in which a person's belongings were placed on the first level and around it food, incense in clay pots, flowers and foliage.

As of the irruption of the Spaniards in American lands, these customs are modified, but they do not disappear. Which explains why in contemporary altars there are Christs, crosses, photographs and new foods such as bread.

In the main pre-Hispanic cultures, death was a milestone in the life of the community. In the funerals of the natives there was always a special place for funeral offerings, whose main premise was that it helped the deceased to overcome the negative forces that made it impossible for him to reach the final destination, which was to be next to the gods.

The sweet potato with honey, the mole, the seeds, the skulls, the pumpkin, the tamales, the tequila, the flowers and the incense, are evidence of the triumph of the cultural syncretism that was achieved. This is nothing more than the evocation of centuries of history that remain valid.

Pre-Hispanic civilizations also used to surround the corpse with seeds so that they would germinate and, thus, encourage the fertility of crops. The purpose of all this was for the deceased to come to "Mictlan", which is equivalent to heaven for Catholics.

Civilizations in which offerings were given

Aztecs

The Aztecs are descendants of the Mexica, the Aztec culture created a great empire in the city of Tenochtitlán.

It is commonly characterized as one of the three great pre-Columbian cultures. The Aztecs built altars around the tomb, candles, water and food to help the soul of the dead. Every year the living illuminated the soul of the dead by bringing incense and copal to give light to the soul.

Mayas

The Mayan culture is recognized for having generated the most complete writing system of the pre-Hispanic civilizations.

They were also noted for their architecture, mathematics, astronomy, and ecology. They were developed in the states that today comprise Yucatán, Campeche and Tabasco.

The Mayans -for the offerings- made a table with branches, which they called "x'coloché". This table was accompanied by candles, soft drinks, alcoholic drinks, water and salt.

They also cooked their famous "atole" (corn dough, cocoa, pepper, and anise) and the queen's arm: a corn dough filled with chaya leaves.

Toltecs

They occupied the land that today is known as Teotihuacán. The Toltecs did not differ much in the way they made offerings to their dead, practically the offerings are transversal to all Mesoamerican pre-Hispanic cultures.

The Toltecs are classified as the first pre-Columbian culture that practiced sacrifices to offer the soul and blood to the gods.

For them, human sacrifice was a kind of payment that men gave to the gods to obtain the stability of the earth.

Zapotecs

They occupied southern Oxaca, as well as part of southern Guerrero. They built large cities and had one of the most advanced agricultural systems of the time.

When a person died, the Zapotecs began the celebration of the bigue, which consisted of decoration with red and yellow flowers and incense.

In the center of the enclosure, where the offerings were found, the biye was hung, which was thought to be the door between the living and the dead.

Day of the Dead

One of the most important derivations of cultural syncretism between Mesoamerican and Hispanic cultures is the celebration of the Day of the Dead in Mexico. This is one of the most solemn celebrations and respected by the majority of the population.

Pre-Hispanic peoples believed in life after death, but not in the same way as Christianity. For the natives there was no heaven or hell, the fate of the deceased depended on how he had died and not on how he had lived.

Every 1st and 2nd of November the celebration of the Day of the Dead takes place. Although in some places it starts on October 31st. This coincides with the Catholic celebrations of the day of the dead and all the saints.

Objects that are offered

- Sweet skulls: these are skulls that are made with the name of the deceased on the forehead and part of the tradition is that the closest family and friends eat them.

- Flowers: flowers are one of the main elements for decoration and also provide a meaning of freshness and harmony for the deceased. In general, roses and sunflowers are the most used, although Mesoamerican mythology states that the “cempasúchitl” flower is the origin of everything.

- Objects of the deceased: family members chose an object of high significance for the deceased and placed it at the center of everything. Then this changed to a photograph after the introduction of Christianity.

- Seeds: the seeds went both with the corpse and in the offerings. It was thought that when the soul of the person reached "Mictlan" it helped to obtain better crops.

- Copal and incense: this served to cleanse the bad energies that could make it difficult for the dead to reach fullness.

- Bread of the Dead: the bread appears after the arrival of the Spaniards and consists of a representation of the Eucharist. These breads are made in the shape of bones and are dusted with sugar and anise.

- Sweet potatoes with honey, tequila and tamales can also be mentioned as part of the pre-Hispanic offerings.

References

1. Cuevas, D. (2016) Blood for the gods: ritual and human sacrifice in pre-Hispanic America. Recovered from: temporamagazine.com.
2. Child, E. (1997) Burials and offerings in Teotihuacan. Publisher: UNAM. Mexico.
3. Garibay, Á. (1984) 1967 History of the Indies of New Spain and the islands of the mainland by Fray Diego Durán. ditorial Porrúa, SA. Mexico.
4. Who are (2016) Pre-Hispanic offerings on Day of the Dead. Recovered from: vivoson.com.
5. Imagen Radio (2015) Offerings of the Day of the Dead of Pre-Hispanic Mexico. Recovered from: imagenradio.com.
6. Sodi M. (1980) The great cultures of Mesoamerica. Panorama Editorial México.
7. On History (2017) The day of the dead and the Aztec culture. Recovered from: sobrehistoria.com.
8. Meza, O. (1998) Mexican pre-Hispanic legends. Editorial Panorama. Mexico.