Me: Twenty Seconds to Immortality

[zorrah at ATT.NET]

>The message was cross posted from another list, AZTLAN.  I thought that it
>was provocative, and indeed so it seems to be.

Tlazohkamati.  The topic is certainly provocative indeed.  The research is interesting to say the least.  But what interests me the most is the meaning of "the Reality of the Mexica Aztec."  Somewhere, someone must have a clue as to what this exactly means from the perspective of the research question.  I've heard people talk about different "realities" as constructed from language and culture (Post Modernism, Social Construction theory etc.).  Yet, I have never heard of reconstructing a "reality" based on a remote test and a citation from the literature.  I have not read any archaeology research (I have my good reasons) - my background is actually in the hard sciences.

I would like to see more research on this topic using hard science (genetics, chemistry, physics etc.) and qualitative research (ethnography, etc.).  I think both approaches would complement and support one another, giving us all a clearer picture of what happened (how, possible why) in precolonial Anahuac history.

As, a side-note:

During my research on rats, in which I preserved the brain of a once living rat after it had received methamphetamine or cocaine, I was able to “hold” the living heart in less than 1-minute.  I accomplished this by cutting (with surgical scissors) just below the sternum, through the ribs, and up to the armpit area.  This procedure allowed for me to “remove” the heart – or position it – as my particular protocol stated.  So, being that rats are sometimes equated with humans (both are mammals with similar organs) – this same procedure could certainly be carried out rapidly on a human with the proper tool and skill.

citlalin xochime
Graduate Assistant
New Mexico State University
citlalin at att.net