368 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. '2fi 



human beings were sacrificed at least one of the victims was painted 

 and dressed in precisely the same manner as the idol to whom the 

 feast was given, and was offered to the idol as its own image. 



The representations in the third row are more difficult to explain. 

 The gods are depicted here with a naked human form kneeling or 

 lying before each one — one figure of the Codex Vaticaniis is repre- 



Fig. 95. Figures of supposed deities, Mexican codices. 



sented with his breast cut open, lying directly on the sacrificial stone — 

 from whose body they draAV a yellow strip with wavy outlines that 

 ends in flowers, precious stones, and straps with bells {e and /). This 

 strip begins at the abdomen, so that it looks very much as if the 

 intestines were being drawn from the body of the figure. This did 

 indeed occur among certain tribes as an act of torture or sacrifice, as 

 can be gathered from a few passages, but it was by no means a univer- 

 sal religious ceremony. On the other hand, the color of this strip, 



