More than 400 animal species have been found in offerings to the gods in Mexico at the temple of Tenochtitlan from approximately 1,500 BC probably during the Temple’s construction.
The animals included birds and fish, reptiles and mammals and were sacrificed to the Gods of Water and War. Biologist Norma Valentin Maldonado said that the animals were either beautiful and exotic or dangerous and venomous.
Offerings to the ‘Gods’ is something that was an inseparable part of all ancient civilizations. Whether it was for the weather or for misfortune or for wars, it was always the ultimate solution before important actions.
It seems an important question we should ask is why people believed that they needed to sacrifice gifts to the gods in order to get a favourable result? Where did this tradition come from?
Some have hypothesized that it originated in a period where rulers, who were viewed as ‘gods’, demanded gifts and treasures from their people. Proponents of the Ancient Astronaut Theory have maintained that these rulers were in fact flesh and blood beings from an other-wordly civilization who displayed superior abilities and were therefore looked upon as gods. One fact that may support this theory is that myths and legends from many cultures around the world talk of the ‘sky gods’ and how offerings were made to encourage the sky gods to return.