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The Henge Monuments of the British Isles: Myth and Archaeology

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<< Our Photo Pages >> Tenochtitlan - Templo Mayor - Ancient Temple in Mexico in Estado de Mexico

Submitted by bat400 on Tuesday, 26 March 2019  Page Views: 42640

Multi-periodSite Name: Tenochtitlan - Templo Mayor Alternative Name: Temple Mayor
Country: Mexico
NOTE: This site is 4.177 km away from the location you searched for.

Region: Estado de Mexico Type: Ancient Temple
Nearest Town: Mexico City
Latitude: 19.434917N  Longitude: 99.131361W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
2 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
3 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
4 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
4

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I have visited· I would like to visit

Jansold visited on 17th Feb 2019 - their rating: Cond: -1 Amb: 3 Access: 5

MartinJEley visited on 16th Aug 2011 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 5 Having already visited the amazing site of Teotihuacan I was equally pleased with the detail that could be seen in this temple and the informative adjoining museum. Situated in Mexico City the access is easy for anyone who has some time.

SolarMegalith visited on 1st Mar 2002 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 3 Access: 5

DrewParsons have visited here

Average ratings for this site from all visit loggers: Condition: 1.67 Ambience: 3.33 Access: 5

Tenochtitlan - Templo Mayor
Tenochtitlan - Templo Mayor submitted by SolarMegalith : The famous serpent sculpture representing Quetzalcoatl, the main god of Aztecs, associated with wind and knowledge (photo taken on March 2002). (Vote or comment on this photo)
Ancient Temple in Mexico City. When the Spanish conquistadors under Cortez conquered the capitol city of the Aztecs, Tenochtitlan, in 1519 this temple pyramid was the centre of the great city. Three years later the conquerors, under Cortez, began to raze the city and topple the twin temples found at the peak of Templo Mayor.

Amid the rubble they built a new city. More than four hundred years later the base of the pyramid was found during rebuilding after major earthquakes. The dig has gone on since 1978. New finds of importance occur nearly every season.

Templo Mayor was reputed to be the very core of the Aztec empire. This was the legendary location where these travelers from the north saw the reality of a prophecy - that they should build their city where they saw an eagle devouring a snake while perched on a towering cactus. The pyramid ruins lie to one side of the cathedral built by the Spanish next to the Great Marketplace. The site can be visited using a series of overlooks and footpaths. A purpose built museum lies close by, housing the amazing finds from the digs.
Multiple structures made up the pyramid complex and due to its ruined condition portions of these subcomponent buildings may continue to be uncovered. The platform atop the pyramid was the site of two chapels, for co-equal gods of the Aztec pantheon, Huitzilopochtli, the their primary god of war, and Tlaloc, the rain god. The chapels stood side by side, Tlaloc's to the north and Huitzilopochtli's to the south, with steps leading down from the buildings to the west.
As recently as 2015 portions of an immense tower of skulls began to be unearthed in the area of the Templo Mayor complex. This is now thought to be the Huey Tzompantli, a skull rack with circular base which was described by the Spanish as being located at the corner of the pyramid nearest the Huitzilopochtli chapel.
The 3m diameter Coyolxauhqui monolith was uncovered in 1978 at what would have been the base of the steps leading to Huitzilopochtli's chapel. This is a depiction of the dismembered body of Coyolxauhqui in one myth, described as the sister of Huitzilopochtli, who murdered her to prevent her attack on their mother, Coatlicue.

Website: Templo Mayor Museum. (Note: This link is to an archive page.) The location given is for the Temple Pyramid.

Note: Aztec war sacrifices found in Mexico may point to elusive royal tomb - more details in the comments on our page
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Tenochtitlan - Templo Mayor
Tenochtitlan - Templo Mayor submitted by AlexHunger : 1982 excavations in Downtown Mexico City. The site was rediscovered under derelict buildings near the cathedral. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Tenochtitlan - Templo Mayor
Tenochtitlan - Templo Mayor submitted by Flickr : Mexico City ~ Templo Mayor Image copyright: VasenkaPhotography, hosted on Flickr and displayed under the terms of their API. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Tenochtitlan - Templo Mayor
Tenochtitlan - Templo Mayor submitted by Flickr (Vote or comment on this photo)

Tenochtitlan - Templo Mayor
Tenochtitlan - Templo Mayor submitted by Flickr : Mexico City Templo Mayor Image copyright: VasenkaPhotography, hosted on Flickr and displayed under the terms of their API. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Tenochtitlan - Templo Mayor
Tenochtitlan - Templo Mayor submitted by DrewParsons : A model of how the site looked originally. Photographed in the Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City during a visit there in December 1989.

Tenochtitlan - Templo Mayor
Tenochtitlan - Templo Mayor submitted by Flickr : Mexico City Templo Mayor Image copyright: VasenkaPhotography, hosted on Flickr and displayed under the terms of their API.

Tenochtitlan - Templo Mayor
Tenochtitlan - Templo Mayor submitted by SolarMegalith : Tzompantli (Wall of the Skulls) in Templo Mayor (Tenochtitlan) - nowdays centre of Mexico City (photo taken on March 2002).

Tenochtitlan - Templo Mayor
Tenochtitlan - Templo Mayor submitted by Flickr : Mexico City ~ Templo Mayor Museum Image copyright: VasenkaPhotography, hosted on Flickr and displayed under the terms of their API.

Tenochtitlan - Templo Mayor
Tenochtitlan - Templo Mayor submitted by Flickr : Museo Templo Mayor, Mexico DF Una linda experiencia en el Museo del Templo Mayor, ciudad de los Mexicas. Image copyright: maxid (Maximiliano Dobladez), hosted on Flickr and displayed under the terms of their API.

Tenochtitlan - Templo Mayor
Tenochtitlan - Templo Mayor submitted by Flickr : Mexico.Au Musée du Templo Mayor Image copyright: Antoine 49, hosted on Flickr and displayed under the terms of their API.

Tenochtitlan - Templo Mayor
Tenochtitlan - Templo Mayor submitted by Flickr : Skull wall. Image copyright: coffeehistorian (Stuart), hosted on Flickr and displayed under the terms of their API.

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"Tenochtitlan - Templo Mayor" | Login/Create an Account | 21 News and Comments
  
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Aztec war sacrifices found in Mexico may point to elusive royal tomb by davidmorgan on Monday, 25 March 2019
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A trove of Aztec sacrifices including a richly adorned jaguar dressed as a warrior and recently discovered in downtown Mexico City could lead archaeologists to the most tantalizing find yet: an Aztec emperor’s tomb.

Discovered off the steps of the Aztec’s holiest temple during the reign of the empire’s most powerful ruler, the sacrificial offerings also include a young boy, dressed to resemble the Aztec war god and solar deity, and a set of flint knives elaborately decorated with mother of pearl and precious stones.

The offerings were deposited by Aztec priests over five centuries ago in a circular, ritual platform once located in front of the temple where the earliest historical accounts describe the final resting place of Aztec kings.

None of these details have been reported before and such a discovery would mark a first since no Aztec royal burial has yet been found despite decades of digging.

“We have enormous expectations right now,” lead archeologist Leonardo Lopez Lujan told Reuters. “As we go deeper we think we’ll continue finding very rich objects.”

The jaguar offering, found in a large rectangular stone box in what would have been the center of the circular platform, has stirred particular excitement.

Only about one-tenth of the box’s contents has been excavated, but already a wide array of artifacts has been found near the top, including a spear thrower and a carved wooden disk placed on the feline’s back that was the emblem of the Aztec patron deity Huitzilopochtli, the war and sun god.

A layer of aquatic offerings placed on top of the west-facing jaguar have also been identified, including a large amount of shells, bright red starfish and coral that likely represented the watery underworld the Aztecs believed the sun traveled through at night before emerging in the east to begin a new day.

A roseate spoonbill, a pink bird from the flamingo family, has also been found in the offering. It was associated with warriors and rulers, and thought to represent their spirits in their descent into the underworld.

“There’s an enormous amount of coral that’s blocking what we can see below,” said archeologist Miguel Baez, part of the team excavating the offerings at the base of the temple, known today as the Templo Mayor, located just off Mexico City’s bustling Zocalo plaza.

The Templo Mayor would have been as high as a 15-story pyramid before it was razed along with the rest of the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan after the 1521 Spanish conquest of Mexico.

Expanded by each Aztec king, the shrine was believed to be at the center of the universe and was crowned with two smaller temples, one on the north side dedicated to the rain god Tlaloc and one on the south to Huitzilopochtil.

Source: Reuters.
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Mass murder or religious homicide? Rethinking human sacrifice and interpersonal viole by Andy B on Friday, 27 July 2018
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Mass murder or religious homicide? Rethinking human sacrifice and interpersonal violence in Aztec society - Caroline Dodds Pennock

The Aztec practice of human sacrifice is one of the most sensationalized and bloody cases of mass killing in history, raising essential questions about cultural definitions, personal perceptions and the interrelationship of different forms of violence. Produced as part of a project on the long-term history of interpersonal and mass violence in Latin America, this article assesses the available sources for human sacrifice rates in pre-colonial Tenochtitlan, and lays the groundwork for a comparative analysis of homicide rates, by estimating the number of victims of human sacrifice. Offering an analysis which addresses key themes and structures in the history of violence, this study attempting to reconcile the frequency of 'official' violence with the apparent unacceptability of interpersonal aggression, and interrogates the sensationalism and cultural sensitivities which have often hindered impartial and empathetic studier of the human sacrifice in Aztec society.

Open Access article
http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-378889
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Aztec tower of human skulls uncovered in Mexico City by bat400 on Monday, 03 July 2017
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rbatham sends a link to the recent news story on the Huey Tzompantli, a skull rack some 60 metres in diameter which was part of the Templo Mayor complex:

Said to be the heads of defeated warriors, contemporary accounts describe tens of thousands of skulls looming over the soldiers - a reminder of what would happen if they did not conquer territory.

For the next 500 years, the skulls lay undisturbed underneath what was once the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan, but is now Mexico City.

See BBC Latin American News.
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Study overturns prevailing ideas about sacrifices at Tenochtitlan by bat400 on Friday, 12 February 2016
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Who were the individuals sacrificed at the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan? Historical sources mention prisoners of war, but a recent study indicates that not all of them were taken from conquered lands and some were residents of the Valley of Mexico.

"There was this general idea that sacrifices were mostly the result of wars, people taken from the populations gradually conquered" by the Mexicas, whose imperial capital was Mexico-Tenochtitlan, archaeologist Alan Barrera, who conducted the study, told EFE.

It was also thought that victims "were brought directly from their places of origin and sacrificed almost immediately" after arriving in the metropolis, Barrera said.

A study of human bone fragments, however, made it possible to conclude that some of the victims of sacrifices had been living among the Mexica for at least six years.

Young men captured in wars were not the only people sacrificed, and the victims included women, the elderly and children.

To reach these conclusions, the researchers took samples from the remains of six individuals found among the Great Temple's sacrificial victims, extracting the material from skulls and teeth.

The samples were put through a strontium isotope analysis to identify the individuals' places of origin.

The researchers operated on the premise that in ancient societies, it was not very feasible for individuals to travel from one region to the other, and that people mostly ate local products.

Individuals marked for sacrifice but not among captured warriors became "captives to be servants for the elite," made up of people with some high political rank.

The individuals whose remains were studied at the isotope geochemistry lab of the National Autonomous University of Mexico's Geophysics Institute lived between 1469 and 1521, during the reigns of Motecuhzoma Ilhuicamina, Axayacatl and Moctecuhzoma Xocoyotzin.

Source: latino.foxnews.com
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Grave with Human Remains and Relics of by bat400 on Tuesday, 04 September 2012
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Mexican archaeologists discovered a pre-Columbian grave containing human skeletal remains along with relics of a "sacred tree" near the archaeological site of the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan in the historical downtown area of Mexico City, the Mexican National Anthropology and History Institute, or INAH, said.

Found in the burial ground dating back more than 500 years were the complete skeleton of a woman and over a thousand human bones of children, young people and adults. The discovery is "the only one of its kind" from the Mexica culture, the archaeologist heading INAH's Urban Archaeological Program, Raul Barrera Rodriguez, said.

Though other multiple burials have been found in the past, "this is the first where the skeleton of an adult is accompanied by bones and bone fragments from humans of different ages," Barrera said.

Apart from the grave, the specialists found a circular structure of red volcanic rock with a tree trunk in its center that, according to the archaeologists, "would be one of the sacred trees" associated with the god of war Huitzilopochtli, one of the chief figures in Mexica cosmogony and one of the deities to whom the Great Temple was dedicated.

The discoveries occurred in an area called Manuel Gamio Plaza in the course of building an access corridor to the archaeological site and to the museum of the Great Temple, the INAH said.

The skeletal remains were found at about 5 meters (16 feet) under street level, and were beneath a floor of basalt slabs laid at a stage of the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan's construction between the years 1481 and 1486, so that the mass grave dates back to that time, Barrera said.

For more, read latino.foxnews.com.
And photos here: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/08/pictures/120829-aztec-sacrifice-templo-mayor-bones-archaeology/

Thanks to coldrum for the link.
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Carvings of Aztec myths discovered by archaeologists at Great Temple of Tinochtitlan by bat400 on Thursday, 16 February 2012
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Archaeologists Make Big Find at Aztec Temple

MEXICO CITY – A total of 23 pre-Columbian stone plaques dating back approximately 550 years, with carvings illustrating such Aztec myths as the birth of the god of war Huitzilopochtli, were discovered by archaeologists in front of the Great Temple of Tinochtitlan in downtown Mexico City, the National Anthropology and History Institute, or INAH, said.

Bas-relief sculptures on slabs of tezontle (volcanic rock) relate the mythological origins of the ancient Mexica culture through representations of serpents, captives, ornaments, warriors and other figures, the INAH said in a statement.

The pre-Columbian remains are of great archaeological value because this is the first time such pieces have been found within the sacred grounds of Tenochtitlan and can be read “as an iconographic document narrating certain myths of that ancient civilization,” archaeologist Raul Barrera said.

The Great Temple was the most important center of the Mexicas’ religious life, built in what is today the great square of the Mexican capital known as the Zocalo.

The stone carvings focus on the myths of Huitzilopochtli’s birth and the beginning of the Holy War. They were placed facing what was the center of Huitzilopochtli worship, which means that, like the flooring of pink andesite and slabs of basalt, they date back to the fourth stage of the Great Temple’s construction (1440-1469), Barrera said.

According to the myth of Huitzilopochtli’s birth, the goddess of the earth and fertility, Coatlicue, was impregnated by a feather that entered her womb as she was sweeping. But the pregnancy angered her children, so the 400 warriors from southern Mexico and the goddess Coyolxauhqui decided to go up Coatepec mountain where Coatlicue lived and kill her, Barrera said.

The legend about the beginning of the Holy War among the Mexicas says that during the journey the southern warriors made from Aztlan to Texcoco Lake in the Valley of Mexico, where they founded the city, star warriors from the north, called Mimixcoas in Nahuatl, descended from the heavens.

“Both myths include the concept of a star war, in which the god of war and the sun Huitzilopochtli defeats the 400 warriors from the south and Coyolxauhqui, a clash that left in its wake the stars and the moon,” Barrera said.

For more, see the Latin American Herald Tribune.
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A brief article - Underneath Mexico City's bustle lie Aztec wonders by bat400 on Sunday, 13 November 2011
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In the middle of Mexico City’s historical downtown, where the modern bustle leaves most visitors in a daze, archaeologists have unearthed something altogether more serene: a potential clue in their quest to find the long sought-after tombs of Aztec emperors.

This fall, amid ongoing excavation at the Templo Mayor site, where one of the main temples of the ancient capital, Tenochtitlan, once stood, they discovered a 500-year-old platform 45 feet in diameter and decorated with 19 sculptures of serpent heads. Tenochtitlan, built in the middle of Lake Texcoco, was the heart of Aztec civilization, whose influence spread across Mesoamerica until the 16th century.

The finding is part of a five-year effort to locate the tombs in the ancient site, which, now in the heart of Mexico’s capital, was paved over by the Spanish invaders in 1521.

Archaeology work began at the Templo Mayor in earnest after 1978, when workers from the electric company accidentally dug up a pre-Hispanic monolith 10.6 feet in diameter, which was later excavated and identified as Coyolxauhqui, the moon goddess, and dates back to the end of the 15th century.

Today, some 7,000 pieces have been uncovered. But an emperor’s tomb would be a critical find, and the ceremonial platform is an important step toward understanding the rituals of the Aztecs, says Alfonso de Maria y Campos, director general of Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History.

Source: http://www.csmonitor.com.
Thanks to coldrum for the link.
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The Purpose of Aztec Blood Rituals - An ArchNews Feature by bat400 on Friday, 03 December 2010
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The ritual purpose of blood sacrifice in the Aztec world view is discussed in an extensive essay by Jasmyne Pendragon (Latrobe University, Australia) in the 16 Nov 2010 edition of ArchNews. A brief summary follows, but see the link below for the full essay and bibliography.


The Aztec's reigned during 1376 to 1521 CE from their capital at Tenochtitlan which was situated in the heart of Lake Texcoco in the Basin of Mexico. A walled in ceremonial centre was positioned in the heart of Tenochtitlan that housed the Great Temple that was jointly dedicated to the sun and the rain gods. Inside the ceremonial centre there were priestly residences, other temples and a huge skull rack that housed the heads of sacrificial victims in varying stages of decomposition.
The Aztecs built their empire from tribute, conquest, acquisition, warfare and blood sacrifices, although they did create three worthy allies and form a triple alliance with their neighbouring cities Texcoco and Tlacopan. However, not all of their conquered neighbours ... were happy with the Aztec's thirst for blood sacrifice or the constant requests for tribute that the Aztecs demanded of them.

The Aztec's were a violent [and highly ritualistic] people whom practised human sacrifice and cannibalism ... and had a fatalistic behaviour or view towards life. The Aztecs lifestyles were governed by a need to supply fresh-blooded sacrificial victims to the sun god who required the sacrificial hearts of men to give life to the world and assist the souls of dead warriors to the Aztecs version of heaven.

...It sounds vile and sickening ... because modern city dwellers generally have [little contact with the dead or decomposition].. Therefore, the concept of Aztec behavioural practices of death, dying and blood sacrifice seem repugnant and cruel to modern people. however, for the Aztec's the concept of dualism was obvious and beautiful because from the moment of conception, death was a dual counterpart of their life.

In the Aztecs society, death was visual and commonly displayed for the public to see; therefore, it is likely that behaving in a cruel barbaric or atrocious manner was probably not what the Aztecs were thinking. ...Blood rituals were considered part of a reciprocal relationship between humankind and god; the ultimate gift is blood sacrifice and is amongst the highest honour one can pay to the gods. Aztec blood rituals were an act of reciprocity for the blood the gods sacrificed of themselves in order to create the sun and the cosmos.

Blood sacrifices ensured the gods would remain helpful and they ensured the sun would continue to shine, the fields would grow abundant crops and the wheels of life would continue to turn. According to Kastenbaum sacrifice is a form of communication with deity or God that allows one to gain forgiveness, blessings, fertility, victories and protection from prevailing negative or dark forces.

Virtually all-Aztec artefacts bare witness to the Aztec's constant desire and purpose of human sacrificial victims. The many Mexican codices, for example the Codex Borgia displayed [on the 260-day ritual calendar] the need for sacrifice and blood in varying forms ... in graphic detail. [This] is implied from the belief that if they did not sacrifice themselves and their blood, the sun would cease to shine and the fifth world would come to an end,therefore destroying all life as the Aztecs knew it.

For much more, see http://www.archnews.co.uk, 16Nov10.
Thanks to coldrum for the submission.
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Chromatic Palette of Mexica Sculptural Art Identified by davidmorgan on Thursday, 21 October 2010
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From Andy B:

Through careful analysis and the use of state-of-the-art technology, specialists from Mexico, Italy and the United States have determined how Mexica sculptures like "Coyolxauhqui", "Sun Stone", and "Tlaltecuhtli" were painted originally, defining the chromatic palette used by Mexica artists in the late 15th century and early 16th.

Studies of paint found in the pores of the stones confirmed that Mexica sculpture, as Greek and Roman, was polychrome. An interdisciplinary team coordinated by the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), has determined the nature of pigments and agglutinants, pictorial techniques and symbolism of Mexica polychromy.

At the last conference of the V Jornadas Permanentes de Arqueologia (Fifth Permanent Conferences of Archaeology) organized by INAH Direction of Archaeological Studies, Leonardo Lopez Lujan explained that results of a series of investigations have determined that the chromatic range used by Mexica on their sculptures was integrated by 5 colors: red, ochre, blue, white and black.

He declared that numerous sculptural pieces lodged in the National Museum of Anthropology and Templo Mayor Archaeological Zone and Site Museum conserve vestiges of their original paint.

The "Sun Stone" is a good example: “It was cleaned and analyzed in 2000, as part of the remodeling of Mexica Hall, at MNA, celebrations. Although it was exposed to the elements almost a century, a group of INAH restorers directed by Mari Carmen Castro achieved to detect rests of red and ochre pigments in the stone pores.

“In 2007, the team leaded by archaeologist Fernando Carrizosa made the same observations at the lunar deity Coyolxauhqui monolith, finding evidence of red, ochre, blue, white and black paints. Other studies confirm it, concluding that Mexica palette was limited to these 5 colors; shades like brown or pink were never used in sculpture or mural painting”.

Lopez Lujan informed that studies made in 2008 and 2009 on the paint over Tlaltecuhtli monolith, found in October 2006 in Mexico City Historical Center, have deepened; “Soon after Tlaltecuhtli was exhumed by members of the Urban Archaeology Program, we took abundant samples of the pictorial layer, which had an excellent conservation state.

“A high-level multidisciplinary team, integrated by archaeologists, restorers, geologists and chemists conducted analyses with state-of-the-art technology, both in Mexico and the United States. These analyses determined raw material used by Mexica to elaborate pigments and agglutinants. We also identified pictorial techniques used by Tenochtitlan artists more than 500 years ago”.

The INAH archaeologist explained that among previous attempts to reconstruct chromatically the Sun Stone and Coyolxauhqui, some specialists like Robert Sieck Flandes, in 1942, and Carmen Aguilera, in 1985, based their studies on codices images, achieving interesting results.

The results presented now, however, part from using analytical methods and technological resources, proving that the palette of Tenochtitlan sculpture is more reduced that that from codices; in the future, reconstructions will have to be done based on direct observation of monoliths.

Lopez Lujan remarked that Mexica sculptors used mainly volcanic stone as basalt, andesite and tezontle, which natural hues are blackish, grayish and pinkish.

“These are the colors that dominate in pieces exposed at museums. Most sculptures have lost most of the pictorial layer, due to action of soil elements when buried, and once exhumed, to the action of weathering”.

This is why it is important to make computer chromatic reconstructions public, and be able to transmit today the visual sensations Mexica had during the Prehispanic period.

The last investigations in the field are part of Templo Mayor Project, headed by Leonardo Lopez Lujan, Maria Baraja

Read the rest of this post...
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Mexican experts to tunnel for Aztec rulers' tombs by bat400 on Monday, 21 June 2010
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Submitted by coldrum ---

Archaeologists found some of the richest and most unusual Aztec offerings ever in excavations under a mammoth slab depicting an earth goddess and said Wednesday they hope to uncover an emperor's tomb nearby. The seven offerings of strange and unparalleled oddities found under the stone slab depicting the goddess Tlaltecuhtli include the skeleton of a dog or wolf dressed in turquoise ear plugs, jadeite necklaces and golden bells on its feet.

On Wednesday, the huge stone monument was put on display for reporters before its first public exhibition. The sculpture itself challenges the public perception of Aztec monuments as bare stone-colored carvings, because it preserves a half-dozen original colors in which it was originally painted, including rich ochre, red, yellow and blue hues.

Historical records from the time of Spain's 1521 conquest and markings on the Tlaltecuhtli slab suggest the Aztec emperor Ahuizotl, who died in 1502, was cremated and his ashes buried somewhere at the foot of the Templo Mayor pyramid.

Researchers originally thought the tomb might lie directly below the slab. But with only about 2 meters (6 1/2 feet) left to dig downward in 12.5-meter (41-foot) deep pits excavated since 2007, Lujan said researchers plan to dig a lateral tunnel 5 meters (16.4 feet) to the west, to see if they can find the cremated remains of Ahuizotl or his predecessors.

They would like to go farther with lateral excavations, but the water-soaked, unstable soil - and the possibility of damaging valuable, colonial-era buildings that still stand around the site - make that impossible. Radar and other images suggest soil disturbances near the current pit, but Archaeologist Leonardo Lopez Lujan said those could be naturally caused.

Archaeologists have been looking for the tombs of the Aztec emperors for decades. Unlike the sepulcher of Mayan leaders, no Aztec royal burial site has ever been found.

Tlaltecuhtli was believed to devour the dead and then give them new life. The god was so fearsome that Aztecs normally buried her depictions face down in the earth. However, this one was face-up. In the claw of her right foot, the god holds a rabbit and 10 dots, indicating the date "10 Rabbit" - 1502, the year of Ahuizotl's death.

"What better monument for a funerary area ... than a goddess who devours the dead," Lopez Lujan said.



For more, see hosted.ap.org.
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Archaeologists Hot on Trail of Aztec Royalty by bat400 on Monday, 21 June 2010
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Submitted by coldrum --

Aztec archaeologists can almost taste the jack pot. None of the empire's royal burial sites have ever been found, but researchers participating in the Templo Mayor excavation project in downtown Mexico City think an emperor’s tomb is just around the corner. In 2006, researchers discovered a 4-meter (13-foot) long carving of Tlaltecuhtli, the Aztec earth goddess. Since then, further digging has revealed bizarre offerings that archaeologists believe indicate the presence of a near by royal burial.

Tlaltecuhtli was one of the most feared deities. She represented life and nurturing, as well as death. Stories recount her insatiable appetite for blood and the large, unearthed carving depicts a stream of blood rushing out of her mouth.

To honor the powerful goddess, the Aztec buried an odd assortment of offerings, including a wolf adorned in turquoise jewelry, underneath the stone slab. Many pieces of the offering hailed from distant lands, such as shells from the ocean. Archaeologist Leonardo Lopez Lujan told the Associated Press: “These are offerings we have never seen before, and obviously the give us very good indications that at some point we can find a royal tomb.”

Lujan speculates that the proximal tomb belongs to the Aztec emperor Ahuizotl who died in 1502. In the Tlaltecuhtli carving, the goddess holds a rabbit with 10 dots. This symbol represents a date on the Aztec calendar and translates to the year 1502.

For more, and photos, see news.discovery.com.
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Untouched Tomb of Aztec King on Verge of Discovery? by bat400 on Sunday, 19 July 2009
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Submitted by coldrum ---
After nearly 30 years in the field, archaeologist Leonardo López Luján may be on the verge of the discovery of a lifetime: the only known tomb of an Aztec king.
An air of excitement has been thickening around Mexico's Templo Mayor (Great Temple) since 2006, when excavations near the temple revealed a stone monolith with a carving of an Aztec goddess.

Recently the anticipation intensified with the discovery of a richly decorated canine skeleton near a sealed entrance. The animal was found wearing wooden earflaps mounted with turquoise mosaic, a collar of greenstone beads, and golden bells around its four feet.

But López Luján, a senior researcher at the Templo Mayor Museum in Mexico City, remains cool and cautious.
The skeleton could be that of a dog or a Mexican wolf—a question López Luján's team hopes to clear up with DNA testing.

"It would be very important if it turns out to be a dog, as it would tell us that we are close to arriving at a funeral context," he said. The skeleton "could represent the dog that accompanied the deceased to the other side and helped them to cross a river called Chicnahuapan, one of the dangers before arriving at the ninth and deepest level of the underworld," López Luján said. Many ancient Mesoamerican cultures, including the Aztec, believed that dogs escorted their masters to the afterlife, he added, and archaeologists have discovered many dog skeletons alongside Mesoamerican human remains.

Unlooted Tomb?
The Templo Mayor canine skeleton was found next to a stone box that contained the remains of a golden eagle, flint sacrificial knives, crustacean shells, and balls of copal resin—tree sap thought to have been used in various substances, such as incense, medicine, and glue.

Recent excavations also uncovered unbroken plaster seals made of lime and sand. The existence of multiple seals suggests that the tomb, if it's there, could be a collective crypt containing the king and his successors, López Luján said.

"Each time they buried a newly deceased [dignitary], they sealed the entrance with a plaster seal," he speculated.

That the seals are unbroken suggests that the potential tomb has not been looted.

If there is a royal tomb behind the seals, López Luján would expect to find the ruler's ashes in stone or ceramic containers as well as the remains of servants, accompanied by personal objects and more offerings from the funeral rites.

The tomb, López Luján says, would not be as large as that of Tutankhamun in Egypt or the Maya funeral chambers of Copán in Honduras, "because the Mexicas [Aztecs] never build arches or vaults. It might be a very small room full of offerings."

Slow Going

Despite rising expectations, the archaeologist said he and his team must be patient. Only by working slowly and methodically will the team be able to reconstruct the funerary customs and other artifacts that could shed light on the Aztec economy, political system, and religion as it existed before the arrival of the Spanish in the 1500s.

And now the workers must grapple with yet more challenges: the weather and a high water table. "We have to go very slow," he said, "because now we are in the rainy season."

For more, see National Geographic.
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Lost Aztec tomb lies under Mexico City by coldrum on Wednesday, 17 June 2009
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Lost Aztec tomb lies under Mexico City

The great find – a royal tomb – still eludes scientists.

Archeologists digging in the dirt and black ooze under Mexico City's most important public square have been tantalized for decades by the possibility of a great treasure and likely burial place of one of the last Aztec rulers.

"They keep finding astonishing things as they inch their way along," says David Carrasco, a Harvard University historian who's worked with Mexican archeologists at the Templo Mayor.

But the great find – a royal tomb – has eluded scientists. The city of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital that lies beneath the modern Mexico City, was founded on an island in the middle of a saltwater lake.

A high water table makes progress difficult. "When you dig a pit or a trench, you find very quickly the water level and cannot continue if you don't have a powerful pumping system," says Leonardo Lopez, the archeologist heading the excavation.

Since he uncovered a carved monolith of the ferocious earth deity Tlaltecuhtli in 2006, there has been intense speculation, based on historical writings and their own discoveries, that the four-metre-by-3.5-metre stone covers a royal tomb.

The stone monolith is inscribed with dates and language associated with Ahuitzotl, a king who died in 1502. Radar indicates "anomalies" under the monolith, which could be funerary spaces.

Though archeological finds in Mexico City date back to 1790, no one has ever found the burial site of an Aztec king.

"Everyone wants us to dig faster," says Lopez, "and this is the only thing we cannot do.

"You can only excavate once an archeological site. We are not treasure hunters but scientists, and we have a professional responsibility to record the slightest artifact in the best way."

Still, they have uncovered the kinds of treasures that excite public interest, including a canine figure, possibly a dog, with turquoise earplugs, jade necklace and a golden bell around its feet.

A collection of 14 hammered gold ornaments – rare finds in large caches – never before on public display will be part of an exhibit on Moctezuma II opening in September at London's British Museum.

"This monolith is one of the great Aztec deities," says Carrasco. "Imagine what she meant to them, and they buried it. (Today) in the middle of the old city, the national cathedral, the presidential palace, the supreme court are nearby – all this great symbolism, on this spot, the centre of Mexico since pre-Columbian times."

Archeologists anticipate discovering a storehouse that will help them understand Mexica (as the Aztec people are known) funerary practices as well as the economic and political power in the years leading up to 1519, when Spanish conquerors razed the Templo Mayor pyramid complex.

"We expect to find the cremated remains of one or more kings, servants, dwarfs, albinos, musicians sacrificed during the funerals, a rich offering of jewels," says Lopez, who has worked on the excavation since 1978.

On one side of the monolith, Lopez found an entrance. "Digging deeper we have detected several plaster seals blocking the way, meaning that the place below is not looted." The ornamental dog may represent the dog the Mexica believed help the dead arrive at the underworld, he says.

While records refer to Ahuitzotl and two other kings buried at Templo Mayor, says Lopez, there's no likelihood the remains of Moctezuma II, the last great Aztec kings, will be found.

"Moctezuma II died in a very difficult moment and his body was not the object of a royal funeral. A source says this his body was cremated inside a burned temple and that immediately after a group of followers drank his ashes."

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/651306
Read the rest of this post...
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2008 Dig Season at Tenochtitlan - Templo Mayor by bat400 on Thursday, 12 June 2008
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The Summer 2008, American Archaeology features an article by Johanna Tuckman on the dig at a site suspected of being the tomb of Ahuitzotl (1486-1502).
The article includes extensive quotes by the Templo Mayor Director, Leonardo Lopez Lujan on Aztec royalty and the evidence that this site is that of the ruler who preceded Moctezuma Xocoyotzin. The tomb is covered by a massive bas relief of Tlaltechutli, a deity associated with the beginning/end of the life/death cycle. (Here, she is shown in her "death" incarnation, with human skulls carned on her knees and elbows, blood flowing from a lip-less mouth.)
The article explains that this season is focusing on 3D mapping of the Templo Mayor site and digital records of excavated murals. The excavation of the tomb is planned as a slow process, due to the high water levels in Mexico City and the sheer importance of the find.
"'I think everybody here has a mix of feelings. Scientifically speaking, this would be something spectacular,' says Lopez Lujan. 'But the other side of the coin is the responsibility. You only excavate something like this once, and I think we are all getting a little nervous thinking about that.' "
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Re: Mexico City, Possible Discovery of an Aztec Ruler’s Grave by Anonymous on Wednesday, 11 June 2008
It is an unfortunate fact of life, native american or indigenous cultures are far less archeologically important than other ancient cultures. If this discovery were in Europe or Eygpt, you would have millions of euros flowing into that site(s) for their excavation. It is very important to excavate the FIRST ever burial of an Aztec ruler, don't ya think?

Enrique, Taos, NM
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Mexico City, Possible Discovery of an Aztec Ruler’s Grave by bat400 on Sunday, 05 August 2007
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A follow-up dig to who and what may be buried in what appears to be an Aztec Emperor's tomb beneath the streets of modern Mexico City.

"Mexican archaeologists using ground-penetrating radar have detected underground chambers they believe contain the remains of Emperor Ahuizotl, who ruled the Aztecs when Columbus landed in the New World. It would be the first tomb of an Aztec ruler ever found.

"The find could provide an extraordinary window into Aztec civilization at its apogee. Ahuizotl (ah-WEE-zoh-tuhl), an empire-builder who extended the Aztecs' reach as far as Guatemala, was the last emperor to complete his rule before the Spanish Conquest.

"Accounts written by Spanish priests suggest the area was used by the Aztecs to cremate and bury their rulers. But no tomb of an Aztec ruler has ever been found, in part because the Spanish conquerors built their own city atop the Aztec's ceremonial center, leaving behind colonial structures too historically valuable to remove for excavations.

"One of those colonial buildings was so damaged in a 1985 earthquake that it had to be torn down, eventually giving experts their first chance to examine the site off Mexico City's Zocalo plaza, between the Metropolitan Cathedral and the ruins of the Templo Mayor pyramid.

"Archaeologists told The Associated Press that they have located what appears to be a six-foot-by-six-foot entryway into the tomb about 15 feet below ground. The passage is filled with water, rocks and mud, forcing workers to dig delicately while suspended from slings. Pumps work to keep the water level down.

" 'We are doing it very, very slowly ... because the responsibility is very great and we want to register everything,' said Leonardo Lopez Lujan, the lead government archaeologist on the project. 'It's a totally new situation for us, and we don't know exactly what it will be like down there.'

"As early as this fall, they hope to enter the inner chambers _ a damp, low-ceilinged space _ and discover the ashes of Ahuizotl, who was likely cremated on a funeral pyre in 1502. By that time, Columbus had already landed in the New World. But the Aztecs' first contact with Europeans came 17 years later, in 1519, when Hernan Cortes and his band of conquistadors marched into the Mexico Valley and took hostage Ahuizotl's successor, his nephew Montezuma.

"Because no Aztec royal tomb has ever been found, the archaeologists are literally digging into the unknown. Radar indicates the tomb has up to four chambers, and scientists think they will find a constellation of elaborate offerings to the gods on the floor.

"The tomb's curse _ water _ may also be its blessing. Lopez Lujan said the constant temperature of the pH-neutral water in the flooded chambers, together with the lack of oxygen, discourages decomposition of materials like wood and bone that have been found at other digs around the pyramid, which was all but destroyed in the Conquest.

" 'This would be quite an important find for Aztec archaeology,' said Michael Smith, an archaeologist at Arizona State University who is not connected to the dig. 'It would be tremendously important because it would be direct information about kingship, burial and the empire that is difficult to come by otherwise.' "

For more, see the Associated Press article.


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    Re: Mexico City, Discovery of Aztec Ruler’s Grave by Anonymous on Monday, 06 August 2007
    Another article, this one from the
    Guardian.
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Mexico City's Aztec Treasures Remain Buried for Lack of Funds by bat400 on Friday, 25 May 2007
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Mexico City's Aztec Treasures Remain Buried for Lack of Funds


After Hernan Cortes conquered what is now Mexico City in 1521, Spanish invaders set about burying the Aztec culture they had vanquished. Roads, skyscrapers and a shortage of funds are finishing the job.

A 13-foot (4-meter) carved stone, which archaeologists say may cover the tomb of an Aztec emperor, was unearthed by chance in October. It hints at the treasures that are interred beneath Latin America's most populous urban area -- and likely to remain that way, unseen by historians or tourists.

``To know what lies below, we would have to move everything above, and we can't do that,'' said Eduardo Matos Moctezuma, who directs excavation at the Templo Mayor, Mexico City's main Aztec ruin. ``I wish we had billions of pesos.''

The discovery of the monolith depicting the blood-drinking Aztec god Tlaltecuhtli is the most important since the 1970s, said David Carrasco, a professor of religion and anthropology at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The find hasn't attracted the domestic or international attention it merits, he said.

``There has been this major discovery right downtown in Mexico City and you hardly hear about it,'' said Carrasco, the author of ``City of Sacrifice: The Aztec Empire and the Role of Violence in Civilization.''

Tourists often travel 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of Mexico City to see the pyramids of another ancient people, the Teotihuacan. Those who walk through the capital's colonial center are mostly unaware of the wealth of Aztec remains that lie beneath, said Alvaro Barrera, head of the federal Urban Archaeology Program.

`This is an area with great potential to attract tourists,'' Barrera said. ``It's just a question of spending more money.''



For more on the "invisible" Aztec capitol, see article at Bloomberg's. Pat Harrington.
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8th Aztec Emperor's Tomb Found? by bat400 on Saturday, 18 November 2006
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bat400 Writes: Further excavations at Templo Mayor may have found the tomb of Ahuizotl, father of Moctezuma who was defeated by the Spaniards.

Experts Say Tomb May Be Under Monolith (11-16) 17:00 PST MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AP) -- Mexican archeologists say they have found signs that the tomb of an Aztec emperor could lie beneath a recently excavated stone monolith showing a fearsome, blood-drinking god. It would be the first burial site ever found of a leader of the 1427-1521 Aztec empire, said archaeologist Eduardo Matos, who leads the excavation project at the Templo Mayor ruins around Mexico City's main square. "We think this could be a gravestone covering the place where this ruler was laid to rest," Matos said Thursday, as he showed reporters the carved face of the stone for the first time since it was discovered Oct.2.
More at AP" target="_blank" target="_new">http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/11/16/international/i154630S67.DTL#sections">AP via San Franciso Chronicle.
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Massive Monolith and Altar found at Templo Mayor by bat400 on Saturday, 18 November 2006
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aluta writes: While fairly recent in our terms, this seems an important discovery... Archaeologists working in Mexico City have discovered an Aztec monolith, the most important ruins of the ancient civilisation to be found in decades.

The monolith and an altar, dating from the 15th Century, were unearthed in the very heart of the busy capital city. The city's mayor described the discovery as the biggest in almost three decades. A figure representing the rain god Tlaloc and another unidentified figure are carved into a frieze on the altar.
More BBChttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5409510.stm">BBC>.
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