Researchers from the National Institute of Anthropology and History of Mexico have discovered a tower made of the skulls of men, women and children. It took scientists more than two years to search, and the find itself provides new knowledge about the culture of the Aztecs, according to Reuters on Monday, July 3.
More than 650 skulls were found in Mexico City, not far from the site where the ancient temple of Templo Major, also known as the pyramid of the Aztec god of the sun and war Huitzilopochtli, was located before the arrival of the Spaniards. The skulls made a structure with a diameter of six meters. According to scientists, before being placed in the tower, the heads separated from the bodies were exhibited on tsompantli - special racks that existed in a number of Mesoamerican civilizations.
The legend of a tower made of human remains for several centuries terrified the Mexicans, but there has been no direct evidence of its existence until now.
But today historians recognize that some of the previous ideas about the culture of the Aztecs will have to be abandoned. According to legend, the skulls of enemies defeated in battle were piled into the towers, and in the discovered column they found not only male, but also female and children's remains. This allowed us to conclude that the fragments of bodies found could belong to people sacrificed to the gods.
According to the surviving descriptions of the Spanish conquistador Andrés de la Tapia, who participated in the conquest of Mexico along with the troops of Hernan Cortez, the tower consisted of tens of thousands of skulls. Currently, only the remains of 676 people have been found, but scientists say that the excavations are not finished and new discoveries are expected in the future. Researchers suggest that the found tower is only part of a massive complex of similar structures.
The Spanish, led by Cortés, landed on the east coast of Mexico in 1519. Two years later, they managed to destroy the capital of the Aztecs, the city of Tenochtitlan, in the place of which modern Mexico City arose.
As reported in early June, scientists in the center of the Mexican capital managed to unearth the ruins of an ancient Aztec temple dedicated to the god Quetzalcoatl and a stadium for a ritual game. At the same time, the remains of people who were sacrificed were found.