Archaeologists may have found passageway to ancient Aztec royal tomb, Associated Press, 12/02/2015

Archaeologists may have found passageway to ancient Aztec royal tomb, Associated Press, 12/02/2015

·         Aztec leaders cremated between 1325-1521 presumably

·         Tunnel-like passageway leads to two sealed chambers, sealed with 3 ton rock slab, leads to ceremonial Cuauhxicalco platform

·         Led by Leonardo Lopez Lukan

·         Archaeologists have looked for tombs for years, no success

·         Think chambers COULD have rulers of Tenochtitlan, Montezuma I and successors, Axayactal and Tizoc

·         Mystery: lack of royal burials in Tenochtitlan

·         Mayan leaders including the Palenque ruler, Pakal, were buried in sumptuous crypts or stone coffins

Offerings

·         Human sacrifices, 5-7 year old children. Possibly decapitated

·         Stone knives, for human sacrifices

·         Gold ornaments

·         Bones of eagles and infants

Excavation

·         Under stone monolith with Tlaltechuhtli, Aztec god of Earth

Repatriation

·         Mexico wants the feather-adorned “shield of Ahuizotl” and the “Montezuma headdress” back from the Ethnology Museum in Vienna, Austria