‘Like father, like son...’

‘After being seized in battle, a captive held a close relationship with his captor. On the day of the captive’s death, the warrior would accompany him to the sacrificial stone, delivering the prisoner to the place of his death. Having witnessed the sacrifice, the warrior then returned home with the body following the ceremony, a portion of which was sent to the emperor and the remainder consumed in ceremonial cannibalism by the captor’s family and friends. The warrior did not participate in this element of the ritual, however. He stood apart, adorned in white. This emphasizes the closeness of the relationship which was developed between the two warriors - captor and captive. A 16th century account explains the warrior’s actions like this:-

The captor could not eat the flesh of his captive. He said “Shall I perchance eat my very self?” For when he took the captive, he had said: “He is my beloved son.” And the captive had said: “He is my beloved father.”’

Info from ‘Bonds of Blood’ by Caroline Dodds Pennock.

Picture:-
The image, from folio 20 of the Codex Boturini, actually shows Aztecs being captured by the Acolhua tribe early in their history, and being taken before the Acolhua king Coxcoxtli.