Since the conditions of the surrender have not been met, there was no surrender, and the battle is engaged again. Zerahemnah is less than honorable in pressing the attack immediately, but he was clearly in a disadvantageous position, as Moroni was well protected by his surrounding troops.
Cultural: While the idea of scalping typically invokes visions of the Indian wars of the American northeast, the idea of scalping was not foreign to the Mesoamerican scene. While there is not as much information available on the practice, there is nevertheless evidence that scalping was a part of Maya warfare (see Linda Schele and Mary Ellen Miller.The Blood of Kings. George Braziller, Inc., New York, 1986, pp. 218, 228).