[Aztlan] Classes of human sacrifice

[E.P. Grondine]

Buenos noches, listeros - 

For comparative purposes, it seems to me that human sacrifice may possibly be separated into distinct classes: 
1) in response to the trauma of natural catastrophe (for example, the sacrifice on Crete in response to the Thera eruption), 
2) accompanying a noble in death (as in China), 
3) messengers to the gods (particularly in cases where hallucinogens are used to hallucinate a resurrected messenger, as seen in the Bog sacrifices by the Druids), 
4) from a subjugated nearby population (Which must be an effective method of isolating the leadership from the population). 

This is a short list, and I'm sure there are classes other than these, but you will please excuse me if I prefer not to dwell on this topic right now. 

  It seems to me that mass slaughter (genocide) is a separate phenomenon, which needs to be examined separately, so that causative factors may be identified.

E.P. Grondine
Man and Impact in the Americas