What was the name of the Aztec skull rack?

The Aztec skull rack was called a tzompantli.

A tzompantli was a wooden rack or palisade used to display human skulls, usually those of war captives or sacrificial victims. The name comes from Classical Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs, although its exact word-for-word etymology remains debated. It is often translated as “skull rack,” “wall of skulls,” or “skull banner.”

The best-known example was the Hueyi Tzompantli, or Great Skull Rack, in Tenochtitlan near the Templo Mayor. Skulls were pierced and threaded laterally onto horizontal stakes, creating a highly visible public display tied to warfare, sacrifice, and religious power.

The term is specifically a structure, not a weapon, temple, or sweat bath. Temazcal refers to a Mesoamerican steam bath; teocalli means a temple or sacred building; and macuahuitl was a wooden-edged weapon. Archaeology has also shown that skull racks were not unique to the Aztecs: related structures existed among other Mesoamerican peoples, including the Maya, Toltecs, Mixtecs, and Zapotecs.