3. Umbilical Cords Were Preserved And Buried In Battlefields Or Underneath Hearths
The umbilical cords of newborn Aztecs were carefully preserved and saved for adulthood. Keeping the umbilical cord had profound cultural significance and was required for rituals at the passage into adulthood. When a baby was born, the midwife, known as a tlamatlquiticitl, would wash the baby and then remove the umbilical cord. The midwife would also stay with the mother for several days to ensure breastfeeding went well, as the Aztecs had no animals that could produce milk fit for infants.
If a female child were born, the umbilical cord would be buried under the hearth of the home. This practice was believed to make the child a good future wife and mother because the hearth is the center and lifeblood of the house. A book of Aztec sayings called Huehuetlatolli included a passage describing the custom, which encouraged girls to “be to the home what the heart is to the body.”
If a boy child was born, the umbilical was given to a male warrior, presumably in the infant’s extended familial group, to carry into foreign territory and bury in a battlefield. This method was believed to make the boy a strong warrior, which was vital to the Aztecs since the central value of a male Aztec child was his prowess in battle. Of male children, the Huehuetlatolli said, “Your trade and skill is war; your role is to give the sun the blood of your enemies to drink and feed the earth, Tlaltecuhtli, with the bodies of your enemies.”