In considering the extraordinary culture of the Aztecs of Mexico it is impossible to ignore the extravagance of their practice of the ritual killing of humans. Inga Clendinnen renders those killings intelligible through investigation of a wide field of social action: the routines, assumptions, and compelling experiences of daily life at all the emotional, moral, and aesthetic levels through which Aztecs sought to understand their world and identify its necessities. The enquiry is first pursued through the provenance and techniques of management of the victims, seeking the various grounds for their acquiescence. The massive material solidity of the late imperial city is explored to illuminate Aztec notions of temporality and change. Clendinnen then gives close attention to specific social organizations, tracing their distinctive forms of internal cohesion with their attendant tensions, and their unobvious connections with other social structures. Clendinnen discusses the worlds of women, of warriors, of priests, and of commoners, showing us that the mundane aspects of their lives in fact often had tremendous significance. Similarly, a wide zone of "art" is investigated for its intimations of the sacred and the real. The whole culminates in an analysis and interpretation of high Aztec ritual and its meanings for participants and watchers alike. Read Less