A form of self-sacrifice widely practiced by the cultures of Mesoamerica. Historical sources, such as the Codex Mendoza, indicate that the Aztec frequently engaged in penitential exercises by causing self-inflicted wounds with maguey thorns. Artifactual evidence in the form of plant thorns, stingray spines, and pointed instruments has been found with great frequency at sites of almost all the Mesoamerican cultures, including Classic Maya, Olmec, and Teothihuacan. The ear, leg, arms, hands, penis, and tongue seem to have been the most frequently perforated organs.