With its location deep inland, this discovery further thickens the mysterious fog that still surrounds Temple this sacred.
Scientists working on Project Templo Mayor (PTM) found this particular specimen in a long tezontle sacrificial sarcophagus (a common material of ancient Mesoamerican cultures) 1.4m, nearly 1m wide, numbered 178.
According to archaeologist Miguel Báez, in the center of the box is a fossil of a large cat, female, possibly a jaguar, in addition to a bronze statue about 20cm long that has been badly damaged. seems to represent a water god.
One factor that made ark 178 so interesting to scientists was the remains of gorgonian corals and the fossils of many starfish, but none of the specimens had the structure or shape. almost as perfect as the newly discovered individual.
Mr. Báez said this particular individual was found in the fourth floor of the excavation, and it is estimated that there are more than 100 starfish specimens in this box. It seems that all of these individuals are of the same species, which means that at some point the ancients brought entire colonies of starfish, corals, and jaguars to the site.
After decades of excavations, scientists have found specimens of tens of thousands of species of creatures in Templo Mayor, classified into six main groups: sponges, stilts, echinoderms, arthropods, mollusks and mollusks. chordates (such as cartilaginous fish, bony fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals).
Specimens of frogs, rabbits, turtles, deer and especially fossils of domesticated animals such as turkeys and dogs are also common. However, the presence of the starfish Nidorelia armata is very special, as this species has the characteristic of dying minutes or hours after leaving the marine environment. Therefore, the question is how the ancient Mexica were able to transport the huge number of starfish from the Pacific Ocean more than 300km inland.
Explaining the presence of sea creatures next to the jaguar, archaeologist Miguel Báez thinks this is related to the cosmology of ancient people. Accordingly, the ancients believed that the Creator has three great spaces: one is the underground world represented by water; the ground where humans live, represented by terrestrial animals such as snakes and mammals; and the sky of birds.
In ark 178, the sea creatures represent the ocean or the underworld, but scientists are not sure what the jaguar represents. Normally the animals would be dressed up as sacrifices, but archaeologists have yet to get a complete picture of the leopard, the artifacts and type of symbolism buried with the animal.
The Templo Mayor (meaning Great Temple) is a relic of the Mexica people who ruled the Aztec Empire in the 14th and 15th centuries. The Templo Mayor is the sacred heart of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital, and is said to have been the site of many events. sacrifice service.
Archaeologists first discovered traces of the Temple of Templo Mayor in 1914. However, excavation work at this archaeological site was only really conducted in the 70s of the last century. This historic center of Mexico City was recognized as a World Cultural Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1987.
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