Ancient Pyramid Discovered in Heart of Mexico City
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Ruins of an 800 year old Aztec pyramid have been discovered in the heart of Mexico City that archeologists believe could prove the ancient the Aztecs began to develop their civilization in the mountains of central Mexico at least a century earlier than previously considered.
Photo Henry Romero / Reuters
Illustrated in the “Plaza de las Tres Culturas” — the plaza of the three cultures — in the central Tlatelolco area of Mexico City and once a major religious and political centre for the Aztec elite, the pyramid which is about 36 feet high (11 meters) was found last month as part of an investigation begun in August, and may have been built in 1100 or 1200.
Since the discovery of another pyramid at the site 15 years ago, historians have thought Tlatelolco was founded by the Aztecs in 1325, the same year as the nearby twin city of Tenochtitlan — the capital of the Aztec empire — which the Spanish demolished in 1521 to found Mexico City, conquering the Aztecs.
Photo Henry Romero / Reuters
Photo Henry Romero / Reuters
Photo Henry Romero / Reuters
“We have found the stairs of this much older pyramid. The (Aztec) timeline is going to need to be revised.” said archaeologist Patricia Ledesma at the site on Thursday.
Thousands of tourists flock to Tlatelolco to view its panoramic pre-Hispanic ruins and colonial-era Spanish church and convent.
Ledesma and the archaeological group’s coordinator Salvador Guilliem said they will continue to dig and study the area in 2008 to get a better understanding of the pyramid’s size and age.
The archeologists have revealed a sculpture that could be of the Aztec rain god Tlaloc, or of the god of the sky and earth Tezcatlipoca, as well as five skulls and a series of rooms near the pyramid that could date from 1431.
“What we hope to find soon should tell us much more about the society of Tlatelolco.” said Ledesma.
Mexico City is virtually littered with pre-Hispanic ruins. In August, archeologists unearthed what they believe may be the main pyramid of Tenochtitlan in the city’s crime-ridden Iztapalapa district.
The Aztec Empire, on the eve of the Spanish Conquest.
The Aztecs — a warlike and religious people who constructed monumental works and have been credited with inventing chocolate — ruled an empire that extended from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean and encompassed much of modern-day central Mexico.
Source: Yahoo News and Wikipedia
Related stories:
Construction of the Great Pyramids – Surprising Truth Revealed
Hi there… I gave one Inspiring Great Blog Award 2007 in 1 Million Love Messages
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very interesting
Thanks so much Mauro! What a wonderful surprise
Happy New Year to you!
Glad you enjoyed it Smeg, thanks.
Wonderful.. things like these(pyramids) are just coming out from the grave i guess…. they are really nice sources for research….
Excellent play on your choice of words, Credit
Great read, although so far, what bits of information we get on these people is inconclusive. So who really knows if they were blood thirsty, or peaceful, as the conquering Spanish who brutalized them destroyed so much. What we are learning is that they are probably more ancient than once thought, and only excavating all of Mexico City will tell the picture; but I don’t see them knocking down that cathedral of Guadalupe to find out what’s under there any time soon. Do you?
No Mario, I certainly don’t see them destroying the cathedral in hopes of further discovery. The researchers did say they would continue to dig and study the area in 2008, but I haven’t heard anything further about it since this release of information.
dammit! I’ve seen a documentry about that on TV just yesterday haha how ironic!!
The Aztec Great Tenochtitlan [actual Mexico City] is buried under the downtown actual city; we are talking about the biggest city in America by those days and a colossal engineering masterpiece (1519) when the Spaniards arrived and destroyed everything; I mean EVERYTHING! considering the Aztecs “savages”; nowadays we can notice who were the savages!!