Editing Child sacrifice (section)

===Aztec culture===
[[File:Aztec ritual for flooding.jpg|thumb|250 px| 1499, the [[Aztecs]] performing child sacrifice to appease the angry gods who had flooded [[Tenochtitlan]]]]
The [[Aztecs]] are well known for their ritualistic [[human sacrifice]] as offerings to gods with the goal of restoring cosmological balance. While the demographic of people chosen to sacrifice remains unclear, there is evidence that victims were mostly warriors captured in battle and slaves in the slave trade.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Moreiras Reynaga |first1=Diana K. |last2=Millaire |first2=Jean-François |last3=Chávez Balderas |first3=Ximena |last4=Román Berrelleza |first4=Juan A. |last5=López Luján |first5=Leonardo |last6=Longstaffe |first6=Fred J. |date=2021-06-01 |title=Residential patterns of Mexica human sacrifices at Mexico-Tenochtitlan and Mexico-Tlatelolco: Evidence from phosphate oxygen isotopes |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278416521000295 |journal=Journal of Anthropological Archaeology |language=en |volume=62 |pages=101296 |doi=10.1016/j.jaa.2021.101296 |s2cid=234822862 |issn=0278-4165}}</ref> Human sacrifice was not limited to adults, however; 16th century Spanish codices chronicled child sacrifice to Aztec rain gods.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last1=de la Cruz |first1=Isabel |last2=González-Oliver |first2=Angélica |last3=Kemp |first3=Brian M. |last4=Román |first4=Juan A. |last5=Smith |first5=David Glenn |last6=Torre-Blanco |first6=Alfonso |date=2008 |title=Sex Identification of Children Sacrificed to the Ancient Aztec Rain Gods in Tlatelolco |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/587642 |journal=Current Anthropology |volume=49 |issue=3 |pages=519–526 |doi=10.1086/587642 |jstor=10.1086/587642 |s2cid=162519111 |issn=0011-3204}}</ref> In 2008, [[archaeologists]] found and excavated 43 victims of Aztec sacrifice, 37 of which were children.<ref name=":2" /> The sacrificial victims were found by Temple R, a temple in [[Tlatelolco (archaeological site)|Tlatelolco]], the ancient Aztec city which is now [[Mexico City]]. Temple R was dedicated to the Aztec rain gods, including [[Tlāloc]], [[Ehecatl]], [[Quetzalcoatl]], and [[Huītzilōpōchtli]].<ref name=":2" /> A majority (66%) of the excavated subadults were under 3 years old, and 32 subadults as well as 6 adults were identified as male, although the sex determination results could be replicated only for 26 of the 38 individuals.<ref name=":2" />

It is hypothesized that this specific child sacrifice took place during the great drought and famine of 1454–1457, furthering the theory that Aztecs utilized human sacrifice to placate the gods.<ref name=":2" /> Osteological and dental pathological evidence shows that many of the child sacrificial victims had varying health issues, and it is suggested that the Tlaloques selected these children who had medical ailments.<ref name=":2" /> Because sacrificial victims typically embodied the gods they were being sacrificed to, male child sacrifices were more present at this site due to the masculine nature of the Aztec rain gods.<ref name=":2" />