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Aztecs, and their sacrifices In the early summer of 1521, sixty-two of the Spanish army's companions had been captured, and Cortes and the other survivors helplessly watched one of the men were being taken a mile away across the water on one of the major temple-pyramids of the city in the middle of the lake. Drums sounded, Trumpet like instruments were played. Witnesses said it was a terrifying sound. They watched their men being dragged up …

…the local skull rack, displayed in central plazas alongside the temple-pyramids. At least three of the limbs were the property of the captor if he had seized the prisoner without assistance in battle. Later, at a feast given at the captor's quarters, the central dish was a stew of tomatoes, peppers, and the limbs of his victim. The remaining torso, went to the royal zoo where it was fed to carnivorous mammals, birds, and snakes.