In Mexico city discovered the Aztec tower of human skulls
Tower of human skulls, found in the center of Mexico, has generated new questions about the culture of sacrifice in the Aztec Empire. In the structure of the building were found the remains of women and children.
The archaeologists ' find is truly terrifying: the tower consists of more than 650 human skulls. The bones were found under the memorial Templo, one of the main temples in the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan, which later became Mexico city.
Historians have assumed that the walls placed the remains of a defeated army. But the discovery tells a different story.
"We expect that there will be only skulls of men, young men, who were warriors. Women and children participate in the battles can hardly be expected," said Rodrigo bolaños, an anthropologist studying the find. In connection with this discovery the researchers have put forward another theory: perhaps the tower is connected with rituals of human sacrifice. The Aztecs believed that the spilt blood fills the sun-God forces for battle with the darkness.
The tower reached nearly six meters in diameter and was installed at the foot of the monument to the God Huitzilopochtli — the patron Saint of the capital of the Aztec, God of sun and war.
Tower of cylindrical shape of human skulls mentioned in the report of the Spanish Conquistador andrés de Tapia, who accompanied Cortez in the conquest of Mexico in 1521.
The tower has discovered 676 skulls. Archaeologists have not excavated the foundations of the temple, and how many there may be human remains is unknown.
Keywords: Archaeology | Aztec | Sacrifice | Mexico city | Mexico | Find | Dig | Skull