Mexican archaeologists discover 50 skulls buried in an Aztec temple — the largest find to date, with revealing facts about Aztec sacrifice. — Click to Tweet.
The temple where Mexican archaeologists uncovered the skulls was Templo Mayor, just outside of Mexico City. Templo Mayor is in the pre-Colonial capital of Aztec civilization, where the most important ceremonies took place between 1325 and the early 1500’s, when Spanish conquest began.
These particular skulls are interesting for the fact that there are so many of them, and that they were all centered around one sacrificial stone. Of the 50 skulls, five were buried under the stone, signaling that they had some central importance to ceremony. These five had holes on each side for display on a skull rack.
Archaeological Importance
Susan Gillespie, a researcher at the University of Florida, says that it caught her attention that the five skulls that had been hung on the rack — called a tzompantli — were buried separately. It’s revealing, apparently, because it shows how skulls were used and reused for different ritual events.
Heads, Rather Than Hearts
It’s also significant that these rituals appear to have been focused on decapitation. People normally associate Aztec sacrificial rites with the brutal removal of the heart through a person’s chest cavity. But now, researchers have a better understanding of how the Aztecs may have used the human body for ceremonial purposes.
Goddess Sacrifice Nearby
This find comes on the wake of another significant find last August. The skeleton of a young woman was discovered surrounded by piles of nearly 1,800 bones.
This young woman, discovered in another spot of the same temple, may have represented a goddess to whom the Aztecs sacrificed numerous individuals.
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