Mexico finds fire-god figure at top of Pyramid of the Sun (w/pic of what fire gods look like...)

[The Straight Story]

MEXICO CITY -- Did the rulers of the ancient city of Teotihuacan dedicate their largest pyramid to the god of fire, the so-called old god with a signature beard and fire atop his head?

Mexican archaeologists announced this week that a figure of the god, called Huehueteotl, was found in a covered pit at the apex of the Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacan, a popular archaeological site north of Mexico City.

Excavations are ongoing, but the discovery suggests that a long-disappeared temple at the top of the pyramid was used to perform ritual offerings to the fire god, Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History, or INAH, said in a statement Monday.

Huehueteotl is known in the archaeology of various Mesoamerican civilizations, such as the Olmecs and Aztecs, and the Aztecs' predecessors in the Valley of Mexico, the Teotihuacanos. He is commonly represented as a viejo, or old man, sitting in a cross-legged position, often with a beard and a beaked nose, and with a hearth-like source of fire balanced on his head. Huehueteotl is associated with wisdom and rulership.

http://www.latimes.com/news/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-mexico-firegod-pyramid-20130213,0,7555042.story

[jberryhill]

1. Clearly an astronaut helmet

[arely staircase]

2. lol eom

[Canuckistanian]

14. Hahaha

Why indeed?

[arely staircase]

3. i lived several years

not more than 30 minutes from Teotihuacan. We used to drink pulque across the road from the place.

cool post

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. We went last trip

I swear I did not recognize the place. The long main walkway has been excavated and some of the residential areas exposed.

I loved it, how archeology advances.

[arely staircase]

20. yes it has changed a lot

first time i went there was in the mid-80s and i don't remember all of the residential rooms open. but when i moved down there they were there, with all those pretty well preserved murals and other painted buildings and structures.

[KG]

4. I am the god of hellfire!

[RebelOne]

5. I tried to climb that pyramid when I was in Mexico.

I went on a tour outside of Mexico City to the pyramid. I tried to climb it, but the steps got higher and higher. I only got a third of the way up. The people of that ancient civilization must have been giants. No wonder it was just now discovered. No one could climb those steps unless they were 8 foot tall.

[a la izquierda]

7. I climbed it.

Gotta literally climb, not walk.
But it is a rough slog.

[oldhippie]

8. I climbed to the top also, .....

..... but it was in 1971. I was a lot younger then!

[nadinbrzezinski]

12. We did, but I knew, so we took lots of water and all that

[TlalocW]

13. I've been to the top twice

In high school, my school had an interchange with one in Puebla. Students came and stayed with out families, and we went down there and stayed with theirs. We visited Teotihuacan on a day that was a government holiday, a minor Catholic one, and as it turns out an Aztec one. Everyone and their brother were there. We got to see La Danza de Voladores, where five men climb a pole, and four of them attach ropes (wound onto the pole) to their ankles and jump off, flying in circles while the ropes unwind. The fifth stays on top of the pole and plays music. Aztec reenactors were there. Some new-age people were on top of one of the smaller pyramids in a circle trying to channel the power of the sun or earth or who knows what. The staircase of the Sun was completely full so a few of us - both Mexican and American - climbed to the top on the walls, which aren't horribly steep and have rocks jutting out to help with the climb.

Second time was in college. This time, the park was almost abandoned, and we got to the top easily. The Sun isn't a bad climb especially since they put handrails for safety. I climbed the Pyramid of the Moon as well, and it was much steeper, and a little scary coming down.

TlalocW

[jberryhill]

19. On my bucket list

They let you climb it?

[a la izquierda]

6. Oh I can't wait to see it.

This is what I study for a living

[darkangel218]

9. Aliens enginered humans.

It's so obvious.

[A HERETIC I AM]

15. Then they were shitty engineers.

As my back, my intestinal tract and my eyes can attest.

[darkangel218]

17. Do you think they really cared about the results?

They didn't care any more than we care about lab mice.

[A HERETIC I AM]

18. Apparently not! n/t

[cherokeeprogressive]

10. Wow! Who would have thought my Ex-Wife was a "Fire God"?

Actually, she only looked like that after a pint of Tequila (imbibed by HER, not me)... but the resemblance is striking! It's the fire balanced on her head that gave her away.

I'm tempted to call her and ask. Does anyone think "fire gods" are bound to the truth?

[A HERETIC I AM]

16. Reminds me of an old Irish joke.

Paddy was leaving the Pub particularly sloshed on All Hallows Eve. His wife, tired of his repeated late night arrivals at the house rather sloshed, decided to teach him a lesson on this night full of ghosts and goblins.

She dressed in a sheet and hid in an ally about 3 doors down from their house, waiting on Paddy to stumble by.

As he approached, she JUMPED out from the ally and yelled "aye ya bastard, I'm the devil!

Paddy takes a sideways glance at her and says ......






wait for it






.





GLAD TO MEETYA, I MARRIED YOUR SISTER!

[cherokeeprogressive]

21. Hah! That would have been the sister my Ex never wanted to talk about...

Truth be known though... We're better friends now than we ever were while we were married. In fact, I talk to her pretty often and sometimes we chat for a half hour or more.

Nevertheless... I think she's the one who taught Linda Blair to spin her head 360 degrees.