page_title: Tzompantli
section_title: Historical depictions
hierarchical_section_title: Tzompantli / Historical distribution / Aztec era / Historical depictions
context_page_description: A tzompantli or skull rack is a type of wooden rack or palisade documented in several Mesoamerican civilizations, which was used for the public display of human skulls, typically those of war captives or other sacrificial victims. It is a scaffold-like construction of poles on which heads and skulls were placed after holes had been made in them. Many have been documented throughout Mesoamerica, and range from the Epiclassic through early Post-Classic. In 2017 archeologists announced the discovery of the Huey Tzompantli, with more than 650 skulls, in the archeological zone of the Templo Mayor in Mexico City.
context_section_description: There are numerous depictions of tzompantli in Aztec codices, dating from around the time or shortly after the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, such as the Durán Codex, Ramírez Codex, and Codex Borgia. The Codex Mendoza contains multiple depictions of tzompantli. The Frontispiece of the Codex Mendoza depicts a tzompantli holding single skull next to an eagle perched on a cactus. A similar depiction of a tzompantli is used to represent the town of Tzompanco in the Codex Mendoza.  Folio 45v of the Codex Borgia depicts a platform adorned with skulls.
caption: Frontispiece of the Codex Mendoza
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