Mexican Culture Ministry says archaeologists have found 119 more skulls that they believe are part of an Aztec ritual wall.
The ministry said they were apparently part of a large wall where the Aztecs inserted heads of sacrificial victims.
The structure was known as tzompantli in the indigenous Nahuatl language, a sort of showcase for the skulls of their decapitated enemies.
With the latest find, more than 600 skulls have been found in five years of excavations of the so-called Huey Tzompantli, the main ritual wall of the former Aztec capital Tenochtitlan.
Mexico City is built on top of the ruins of the ancient Aztec capital.
A circular platform 4.7 metres in diameter, the Huey Tzompantli was located near the capital’s main temple, the Templo Mayor.
The wall – or tower of skulls – was consecrated to the god of war Huitzilopochtli. The heads of people captured in combat and beheaded in ritual ceremonies such as the ball game were placed there.
“Human sacrifice in Mesoamerica was a commitment that was established daily between human beings and their gods, as a way that affected the renewal of nature and ensures the continuity of life itself,” the head of the project, Raul Barrier, explained.
So far archaeologists have excavated to a depth of 3.5 metres below street level. The 119 new skulls found since March correspond to both men and women and at least three children, according to the first visual analyses.
According to specialists, the tzompantli was built in three stages, the oldest of which corresponds to the period 1486-1502, when Emperor Ahuitzotl reigned.
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