Editing Human sacrifice (section)

=== Africa ===

==== West Africa ====
[[File:Victims for sacrifice-1793.jpg|thumb|Victims for sacrifice – from ''[[Archibald Dalzel|The history of Dahomy, an inland Kingdom of Africa]]'', 1793]]

[[JuJu]] Human sacrifice is still covertly practiced in some parts of West Africa, though it is illegal in all West African countries.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.liberiapastandpresent.org/RitualKillings1900_1950b.htm|title=The Leopard Society&nbsp;– Africa in the mid 1900s|access-date=3 April 2008|archive-date=23 November 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101123220812/http://www.liberiapastandpresent.org/RitualKillings1900_1950b.htm}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://cornellpress.manifoldapp.org/read/0a9c919e-58ef-4dde-affb-26ace8154b3a/section/242b3048-dd27-40ae-8042-e240202a5d8d | title='Chapter 5. Ritual Cannibalism: A Case Study of Socially-Sanctioned Group Violence' in 'Toward a Theory of Peace: The Role of Moral Beliefs' on Cornell University Press Digital Platform }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=|url=https://africanlii.org/article/20210805/uganda-prepares-new-law-%E2%80%98human-sacrifice%E2%80%99-here%E2%80%99s-what-case-%E2%80%98human-sacrifice%E2%80%99-looks |title=Uganda prepares for new law on 'human sacrifice': here's what a case of 'human sacrifice' looks like &#124; African Legal Information Institute |publisher=Africanlii.org |date=3 August 2021 |access-date=3 August 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-15255357 | title=Where child sacrifice is a business | work=BBC News | date=11 October 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.premiumtimesng.com/opinion/486817-nigerias-huge-market-of-blood-and-human-sacrifice-by-festus-adedayo.html | title=Nigeria's huge market of blood and human sacrifice, by Festus Adedayo – Premium Times Nigeria | date=26 September 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://video.vice.com/en_us/video/the-cannibal-warlords-of-liberia/560a7cac7676b705187e64f7 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160715064451/https://video.vice.com/en_us/video/the-cannibal-warlords-of-liberia/560a7cac7676b705187e64f7 | url-status=dead | archive-date=15 July 2016 | title=The Cannibal Warlords of Liberia }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://theworld.org/stories/2011-08-01/liberia-s-elections-ritual-killings-and-cannibalism | title=Liberia's elections, ritual killings and cannibalism }}</ref> The [[Annual customs of Dahomey]] was the most notorious example, but sacrifices were carried out all along the West African coast and further inland. Sacrifices were particularly common after the death of a king or queen, and there are many recorded cases of hundreds or even thousands of slaves being sacrificed at such events. Sacrifices were particularly common in [[Dahomey]], in what is now [[Benin]], and in the small independent states in what is now southern [[Nigeria]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=de Cardi |first=C. N. |date=1899 |title=Ju-Ju Laws and Customs in the Niger Delta |url=https://ia600708.us.archive.org/view_archive.php?archive=/22/items/crossref-pre-1909-scholarly-works/10.2307%252F2841975.zip&file=10.2307%252F2842576.pdf |journal=The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland |volume=29 |pages=51–64 |via=Archive.org }}</ref> According to [[Rudolph Rummel]], "Just consider the Grand Custom in Dahomey: When a ruler died, hundreds, sometimes even thousands, of prisoners would be slain. In one of these ceremonies in 1727, as many as 4,000 were reported killed. In addition, Dahomey had an [[Annual customs of Dahomey|Annual Custom]] during which 500&nbsp;prisoners were sacrificed."<ref>{{cite book |first=R. |last=Rummel |year=1997 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N1j1QdPMockC |title=Death by Government |publisher=Transaction Publishers |page=63 |isbn=1-56000-927-6}}</ref>

In the [[Ashanti Region]] of modern-day [[Ghana]], human sacrifice was often combined with capital punishment.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Clifford |last=Williams |year=1988 |title=Asante: Human sacrifice or capital punishment? An assessment of the period 1807–1874 |journal=The International Journal of African Historical Studies |volume=21 |issue=3 |pages=433–441|doi=10.2307/219449 |jstor=219449 }} – [[Ashanti Empire|Asante]] is also called the [[Ashanti Empire]].</ref>

The ''[[Leopard men]]'' were a West African secret society active into the mid-1900s that practised [[Human cannibalism|cannibalism]]. It was believed that the ritual cannibalism would strengthen both members of the society and their entire tribe.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Leopard Society – Africa in the mid 1900s |website=Liberia Past and Present |url=http://www.liberiapastandpresent.org/RitualKillings1900_1950b.htm |access-date=3 April 2008 |archive-date=23 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101123220812/http://www.liberiapastandpresent.org/RitualKillings1900_1950b.htm }}</ref> In [[Tanganyika (territory)|Tanganyika]], the ''Lion men'' committed an estimated 200&nbsp;murders in a single three-month period.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Murder by lion |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,867859,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090207012239/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,867859,00.html |archive-date=7 February 2009}}</ref>

==== Canary Islands ====
It has been reported from Spanish chronicles that the [[Guanches]] (ancient inhabitants of these islands) performed both animal and human sacrifices.<ref name=Academia-6630296>{{cite web |title=Sacrificios entre los Aborígenes canarios |website=academia.edu |id=6630296 |url=https://www.academia.edu/6630296 |last1=Martin |first1=Alfredo Mederos }}</ref>

During the summer solstice in [[Tenerife]] children were sacrificed by being thrown from a cliff into the sea.<ref name=Academia-6630296/> These children were brought from various parts of the island for the purpose of sacrifice. Likewise, when an aboriginal king died his subjects should also assume the sea, along with the embalmers who embalmed the [[Guanche mummies]].{{cn|date=July 2024}}

In [[Gran Canaria]],  bones of children were found mixed with those of lambs and goat kids and on Tenerife, amphorae have been found with the remains of children inside. This suggests a different kind of ritual infanticide from those who were thrown off the cliffs.<ref name=Academia-6630296/>