Mexico's ancient city guards its secrets but excavation reveals new mysteries

[Judi Lynn]

Mexico's ancient city guards its secrets but excavation reveals new mysteries

An eight-year project at Teotihuacán, once the western hemisphere’s largest city, failed to locate its rulers’ tomb but findings offered tantalising clues to its origins

Teotihuacán, about 30 miles outside Mexico City. The discovery of liquid mercury beneath one of its pyramids fuelled hopes of finding a royal tomb – but what archaeologists did find was unexpected.

Nina Lakhani in Teotihuacán
Monday 24 April 2017 05.00 EDT


For decades, the hunt for a royal tomb at the ancient Mexican city of Teotihuacán has gripped archaeologists trying to unravel the secrets of the kingdom’s extraordinary political power.

It is a mystery investigators thought they were on the verge of solving in 2015, when large quantities of liquid mercury were found amid a treasure trove of precious artefacts in a secret tunnel.

Tiny troughs containing mercury were discovered along the 103-metre (338ft) corridor under the Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent, the third-biggest temple of the ruined city 35 miles (56km) north of Mexico’s present-day capital.

It was the first time the toxic substance had been found at an ancient site in Mexico, and the discovery fuelled expectations that the search for the tomb was almost over.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/apr/24/mexicos-ancient-city-guards-its-secrets-but-excavation-reveals-new-mysteries

Anthropology:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/12293108

[watrwefitinfor]

1. Thank you, Judi,

for bringing these fascinating articles about prehistory to DU. I especially enjoy the ones about South American archaeology. Used to read a lot on the subject when I was young - now I mostly read your posts.

Wat

[Judi Lynn]

2. So good to hear your remarks. I hope so much we are at the beginning of a ton of information

coming through far more quickly as new methods are put in use for discovering ancient buildings which have been covered by forests, and soil for hundreds, maybe thousands of years in this hemisphere.

It might bother you, too, that it has always been treated as if the only ancient civilization which has mattered has been in Egypt, Europe. some parts of Asia which Europeans frequent more than the others. That really sucks. Ancient sites in the Americas in some places go back every bit as far as the pyramids in Egypt. Only idiots would view them as less important.

Whenever I find anything in the irregular schedule I keep, I intend to post it right here, so we all find out together, in case there are other people who haven't known, either.

Thank you, very much.