Talk:Cannibalism in the Americas

The Conquest of New Spain

I translated Bernal Díaz’s The Conquest of New Spain from the original work in Spanish:

“ […] comer carne humana, así como nosotros traemos vaca de las carnicerías, y tenían en todos los pueblos cárceles de madera gruesa a manera de casas, como jaulas, y en ellas metían a engordar muchas indias e indios y muchachos, y estando gordos los sacrificaban y comían. ”

Since I don’t have the translated English book in my personal library I hope that another editor quotes the translated text directly from the published book of Bernal Díaz in English: the above quotation appears in chapter CCVIII. —Cesar Tort 13:01, 16 March 2007 (UTC)

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This article is rather self- conflicting; stating at first "there is a lack of scholarly consensus as to whether cannibalism in pre-Columbian America was widespread." and then providing many factual evidence supporting they did indeed consume human flesh. It's almost comical! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.169.208.204 (talk) 02:32, 13 March 2011 (UTC)

You need to read the article, and the sentences you quote, more thoroughly. None of the alleged "factual evidence" – even if we grant it may be reliable – supports the idea that cannibalism in pre-Columbian America (not just among the Aztecs!) was widespread (as opposed to an occasional occurrence). Note the following two sentences: At the other extreme, William Arens doubts whether there was ever any systematic cannibalism and According to skeptics such as James Q. Jacobs, questions remain about whether such evidence exists to the extent that Harner and others claim, and about the veracity of ethnohistorical accounts authors alleging cannibalism considered evidentiary. The sources written by Spaniards are all subject to some doubt in principle, because the Spaniards were biased against indigenous people of the Americas, especially the Aztecs, accusing them of "primitive" or "backward" "barbarians", and allegations of cannibalism, all too often supported by fabricated and purely fictitious eyewitness accounts, have always been a favourite means of justifying such accusations, and in turn, conquest and colonisation. None of them can be taken at face value and they do not constitute "factual evidence" at all. I may also note that the remaining evidence is not supported by citations.

The real problem with the article – apart from lacking sources – is its title and scope, which glaringly conflict with each other: it purports to be about pre-Columbian America in general, but in fact treats only the Aztecs. Therefore, the title is quite misleading. --Florian Blaschke (talk)

When you read the article, that's where the comedy comes in. There is just so much forensic evidence that cannibalism was widespread, that it becomes absurd to quote much older articles suggesting it was just propaganda. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.68.128.91 (talk) 15:47, 24 August 2018 (UTC)

Bartolome de las Casas questioned the authenticity and veracity of the claims that these rituals were practiced by indigenous peoples and argued that the reason behind them was to defame and dehumanize indigenous peoples in order justify European atrocities. If these rituals were practiced in the Americas, it was only by some indigenous populations and highly unlikely to be widely spread.