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borgslayer
Rear Admiral
Joined: 27 Aug 2003
Posts: 2646
Location: Las Vegas
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 Sat Dec 04, 2004 6:24 pm Tomb of headless bodies at Mexican pyramid |
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| Quote: |  MEXICO CITY, Mexico (Reuters) -- The discovery of a tomb filled with decapitated bodies suggests Mexico's 2,000 year-old "Pyramid of the Moon" may have been the site of horrifically gory sacrifices, archaeologists have said.
The tomb at Teotihuacan, the first major city built in the Americas, whose origins are one of history's great mysteries, also held the bound carcasses of eagles, dogs and other animals.
"It is hard to believe that the ritual consisted of clean, symbolic performances -- it is most likely that the ceremony created a horrible scene of bloodshed with sacrificed people and animals," said Saburo Sugiyama, one of the scientists leading the ongoing dig.
"Whether the victims and animals were killed at the site or a nearby place, this foundation ritual must have been one of the most terrifying acts recorded archeologically in Mesoamerica."
Of the 12 human bodies found, 10 were decapitated and then tossed, rather than arranged, on one side of the burial site. The two other bodies were richly ornamented with beads and a necklace made of imitation human jaws.
The Aztecs came across Teotihuacan's towering stone pyramids in about 1500 A.D., centuries after the city was torched and abandoned. It is not known what language its inhabitants spoke, but the Aztecs named it "The Place Where Men Become Gods," believing it was a divine site.
A major tourist site, it lies about 35 miles (56 km) northeast of Mexico City.
After 200 years of excavations, archeologists are still largely in the dark about the origins of the city, which is believed to have housed 200,000 people at its peak in 500 A.D. -- rivaling Shakespeare's London, but a millennium earlier.
Sugiyama said the nearly complete excavation indicates the Pyramid of the Moon was significant to its builders as a site for celebrating state power through ceremony and sacrifice.
The sacrifices were carried out during the expansion of one of the city's major monuments, suggesting the government wanted to symbolize growing sacred political power.
"Contrary to some past interpretation, militarism was apparently central to the city's culture," the excavation team said in a statement.
The master-planned city-state collapsed around 700 A.D., an event as mysterious as its formation.
It was the site of a modern-day controversy earlier this year when protesters fought and lost a battle to keep the Mexican unit of retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc. from building a new store a half-mile (800 meters) away. |
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/science/12/03/mexico.pyramids.reut/index.html
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Curtis
Fleet Admiral
Joined: 29 Sep 2001
Posts: 14903
Location: Wisconsin
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| Sun Dec 05, 2004 11:19 am |
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I always thought pyramids were kind of creepy, but this looks like a pretty cool find  .
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Link, the Hero of Time
Vice Admiral
Joined: 15 Sep 2001
Posts: 5581
Location: Kokori Forest, Hyrule
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| Sun Dec 05, 2004 1:34 pm |
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Excellent!!!
This is a great find from an Archaeological point of view. These 2 non decapitated bodies, who must be of some high status to be buried so richly and with humn sacrifices to accompany them, Are new pieces to the puzzle that is the Aztecs.
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Curtis
Fleet Admiral
Joined: 29 Sep 2001
Posts: 14903
Location: Wisconsin
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| Sun Dec 05, 2004 6:23 pm |
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| Link, the Hero of Time wrote: | Excellent!!!
This is a great find from an Archaeological point of view. These 2 non decapitated bodies, who must be of some high status to be buried so richly and with humn sacrifices to accompany them, Are new pieces to the puzzle that is the Aztecs. |
The Aztecs!!! I really should have read the whole thing  . my gosh, this is a most excellent find then from an Archaeological point of view as you say .
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Link, the Hero of Time
Vice Admiral
Joined: 15 Sep 2001
Posts: 5581
Location: Kokori Forest, Hyrule
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| Sun Dec 05, 2004 6:40 pm |
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Well, depending on when the bodies are dated it could be Aztecs...
The problem is that it's not really known who built Teotihuacan, The Aztecs found it and incorporated it into their empire... besides that not much is known about it's past.
They could be bodies of the Toltecs... Who are rumored to be the builders, but unfortunetly, toltecs were a group name given by the Aztecs that kind of incorporated a few groups of people.
The ritual sacrifices like the one found, including the mask from the photo are usually accustomed to Aztecs burials...
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Curtis
Fleet Admiral
Joined: 29 Sep 2001
Posts: 14903
Location: Wisconsin
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| Sun Dec 05, 2004 6:42 pm |
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| Link, the Hero of Time wrote: | Well, depending on when the bodies are dated it could be Aztecs...
The problem is that it's not really known who built Teotihuacan, The Aztecs found it and incorporated it into their empire... besides that not much is known about it's past.
They could be bodies of the Toltecs... Who are rumored to be the builders, but unfortunetly, toltecs were a group name given by the Aztecs that kind of incorporated a few groups of people.
The ritual sacrifices like the one found, including the mask from the photo are usually accustomed to Aztecs burials... |
Ooooo, so that's what we must know, well hopefully this will bring us steps closer to finding out that answer .
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TrekkieMage
Office Junkie
Joined: 17 Oct 2004
Posts: 5335
Location: Hiding
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| Mon Dec 06, 2004 5:57 pm |
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Oooh, neat! That sounds like an increadible sign! It should definatly keep them busy for a while.
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lionhead
Rear Admiral
Joined: 26 May 2004
Posts: 4020
Location: The Delta Quadrant (or not...)
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| Tue Dec 07, 2004 6:12 am |
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Thats very interesting. i always want too imagine what happened when they killed those people.
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