An Aztec tower made up of at least 676 human skulls has been unearthed in the depths of Mexico City . While the Aztecs were hardly known as the “ shy and retiring ” types when it came to war and death , this uncovering is leading archeologist to believe this ancient culture was even more brutal than previously assumed .
The archeological site took position at the former dwelling of the Templo Mayor , one of the biggest temple in the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán , now the site of Mexico City .
Within this well - known archaeologic gem chest , they latterly found hundred of skull and thousands of fragments of bone mould into a limestone piston chamber , Reuters news agencyreports . These structures of human skull rack , known as " tzompantli " , have been previously documented . However , this one is a little more gruesome that normal .
" We were expecting just men , obviously untested men , as warriors would be , and the thing about the women and children is that you ’d imagine they would n’t be going to war , " Rodrigo Bolanos , a biological anthropologist , toldReuters .
" Something is materialize that we have no disc of , and this is really fresh , a first in the Huey Tzompantli , " he added .
Tenochtitlán was an Aztec citythat fly high between 1325 CE and the arrival of Spanish colonizers in 1521 . Before their subjugation , it was the big and grandest city in the Americas . After , little remain of the great city . However , on top of its archaeological stiff , we do eff a little spot about it thanks to the writing of Spanish soldier , who were both panicked and in fear of this “ unexampled ” land .
Andrés de Tapia , a Spanish soldier who accompanied the notorious conquistador Hernán Cortés in the 1521 conquest of Mexico , actually spoke of these skull towers in his diary introduction , describe an ossuary made out of the skull of fallen soldier and sacrifice men . One story of the storysays the Spanish weigh the skulls and find at least 136,000 . Now we know that these remains were not just of man involved in war , but also women and baby .
The excavation , which started in 2015 , is still ongoing and continually pump out fascinating discovery . Just last calendar month , archaeologists work on the sitealso discovered an areacontaining an ancient Aztec tabernacle , a ball court , and a potential sacrificial orbit .
