Mexican archaeologists begin search for Aztec king's tomb
|
|
|
Mexico City, Nov 8 - A team of archaeologists has begun exploring a site in the heart of the Mexican capital that might lead to the first discovery of a tomb of an Aztec king, according to Spanish news agency EFE.Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) said in a communique that a 12-tonne monolith dedicated to Tlaltecuhtli, the Aztec earth goddess, was removed from the site Tuesday.Scientists hope to uncover the tomb of King Ahuizotl, who reigned from 1486-1502.The monolith and the possible tomb were found a year ago in the area known as Las Ajaracas, a spot where the new official residence of the Mexico City mayor is being built.Upon detecting the archaeological remains, the government donated the land to INAH to explore.The colonial structures erected by the Spaniards over Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital, are also of historical value, and so they were never removed to allow excavations there until one of those buildings had to be torn down after suffering severe damage in the massive earthquake of 1985.According to the INAH communique, scientists performed a three-dimensional underground probe of the site using a scanner with the collaboration of a team from the University of Ferrara, Italy, and aided by Japanese experts from Nagoya University.Leonardo Lopez Lujan, the director of INAH's Templo Mayor Project, said that with the studies, scientists expect to confirm the thesis that the tomb of Ahuizotl - the last Aztec king before the Spanish conquest - is located there.That thesis, he added, might be corroborated or rejected 'depending on the presence or lack of archaeological evidence', but in any case it will be a slow process taking at least a year.The archaeologist said that they located an entrance to the two-square-meter tomb, which is located about five meters underground.Ahuizotl, who died in a flood, carried out military campaigns to extend the power of Tenochtitlan to Guatemala and he is known for his massive sacrifice of between 20,000 and 80,000 captives.The first contact the Aztecs had with the Europeans came in 1519, when Hernan Cortes and his group of conquistadors advanced on the Mexico Valley and took Ahuizotl's successor, his nephew Moctezuma, hostage. (c) Indo-Asian News Service
|
|
|
|
|
|
Related News
OAS chief deplores failure of Honduras deal Washington - Jose Miguel Insulza, secretary-general of the Organization of American States (OAS), Friday deplored the interruption of the deal to solve the crisis in Honduras. Insulza demanded respect, without subterfuges, for a deal that he stre...
Honduran de-facto leaders resign to form unity cabinet - Summary Tegucigalpa, Honduras - The Honduran de-facto government of Roberto Micheletti resigned late Thursday, paving the way for a government of national unity and reconciliation, but said it was to form the new government without the participation of the o...
Honduran de-facto government resigns - Summary Tegucigalpa, Honduras - The Honduran de-facto government of Roberto Micheletti has resigned late Thursday, paving the way for a national unity and reconciliation government. The move was announced in a televised statement by the government following ...
Dutch prince surprises Mexicans with rude slang Mexico City - Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands made Mexicans laugh with his use of Mexican slang that many mothers would have scolded their children for using, the media reported Thursday. At a meeting with representatives of the energy sec...
Six people killed at table-dance club in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico MexicoCity - Six men were shot dead early Wednesday at a table-dance club in Ciudad Juarez, in northern Mexico. Chihuahua state justice officials said a group of armed attackers stormed into the Amadeus club in a mixed commercial-residential area of ...
Colombian authorities seize 6.2 million counterfeit dollars Bogota- Colombia's secret service seized 6.2 million dollars in counterfeit US bills that were hidden in Bogota and were set to be distributed in the United States, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. Colombia's secret service, the Administrative Departemen...
Honduran Congress consults Supreme Court on deal to end crisis Tegucigalpa, Honduras - Honduras' unicameral Congress sent a deal to end the political crisis in the Central American country on to the Supreme Court for consultation on Tuesday. The Supreme Court's non-binding opinion will be taken into account when...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|