A new passageway discovered at an ancient complex in Mexico City could lead to a pair of sealed chambers containing the cremated remains of Aztec emperors—including some dating back to the 14th century—a team of archaeologists announced earlier this week.
According to the Archaeological Institute of America publication Archaeology, the 18 inch wide, five foot long passageway was found in a 27-foot-long tunnel underneath Templo Mayor, one of the primary temples in the ancient Aztec city of Tenochtitlan. The pathway leads to a ceremonial platform, called the Cuauhxicalco, where rulers are believed to have been cremated.
The mouth of the tunnel itself had been sealed by a three-ton rock, the Associated Press said. On the inside, the researchers found an offering box filled with gold ornaments, as well as the bones of eagles and infants. The skulls of children as young as five years of age were also found, along with the first three vertebrae, suggesting the youngsters may have been decapitated. Yikes.
Stone knives similar to those used in human sacrifices were also discovered, as were a hand and bones from two different feet. One archaeologist, however, spotted signs of the passage leading deeper into the Cuauhxicalco, where based on accounts written following the 1521 conquest of the Aztecs, the remains of the culture’s leaders were taken to be burned.
Final resting places of Moctezuma I, Tenochhtitlan may lie within
Leonardo Lopez Lujan, the National Institute of Anthropology and History archaeologist leading the expedition, told the AP that once his team removed the rocks and dirt, they saw that the path led “directly into the heart of the Cuauhxicalco. At the end (of the passage, there are what appear to be two old entrances that had been sealed up with masonry.”
The passage had to be re-filled for nearly two years because of work at one of the access points to the ruins, but Lopez Lujan said that he hopes to resume digging again next year, after the work at that site is completed. This will entail re-excavating the passageway and discovering what may lie beyond the two sealed doorways.
“The hypothesis is that there will be two small chambers with urns holding the ashes of Mexica rulers, but we could be wrong,” the archaeologist added. “What we are speculating is that behind these sealed-up entrances there could be two small chambers with the incinerated remains of some rulers of Tenochtitlan, like Moctezuma I and his successors, Axayacatl and Tízoc, given the relative dating of the surrounding constructions.”
Given that Templo Mayor (also known as the Great Temple) was the preeminent complex in the Aztec capital, it would be logical for the remains of the civilization’s rulers to be entombed there. However, as the AP pointed out, Mexican archaeologists have been searching for those remains for many years, and have to date had no success in actually locating them.
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Feature Image: Wikimedia Commons
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