Tomb of Headless Bodies found in Mexico

[Trauma-san]

Tomb of headless bodies at Mexican pyramid
Friday, December 3, 2004 Posted: 9:45 AM EST (1445 GMT)
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, archeologists said on Thursday.

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.


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I think these bodies might be something more important, since the way they were put in this tomb.  It may be these were part of a royal family, or something, that was symbolically executed after the city was seiged, or something.  If they were going to be sacrificing, there'd be a whole lot more than 12 bodies laying around... so while I think they probably did sacrifice, I think the number was much higher, and these 12 are significant in some way, hence their placement afterwards in a tomb. 

[M Dogg™]

The Mexica/Aztecs have had a long tradition of "recalling" leaders that they felt did not agree with their will. Your theories maybe right Trauma... lol.

And this statement kills me. ""Contrary to some past interpretation, militarism was apparently central to the city's culture," the excavation team said in a statement." Let me just say the Aztecs were the American version of the Roman Empire in terms of expansion. The Aztecs conquered many parts of modern Mexico.

[Javier]

The Mexica/Aztecs have had a long tradition of "recalling" leaders that they felt did not agree with their will. Your theories maybe right Trauma... lol.

And this statement kills me. ""Contrary to some past interpretation, militarism was apparently central to the city's culture," the excavation team said in a statement." Let me just say the Aztecs were the American version of the Roman Empire in terms of expansion. The Aztecs conquered many parts of modern Mexico.

It is not about the aztecs though.  Nobody knows what people were living at Teotihuacan

[Trauma-san]

LOL

[M Dogg™]

The Mexica/Aztecs have had a long tradition of "recalling" leaders that they felt did not agree with their will. Your theories maybe right Trauma... lol.

And this statement kills me. ""Contrary to some past interpretation, militarism was apparently central to the city's culture," the excavation team said in a statement." Let me just say the Aztecs were the American version of the Roman Empire in terms of expansion. The Aztecs conquered many parts of modern Mexico.

It is not about the aztecs though.  Nobody knows what people were living at Teotihuacan

LOL... next time I'll read the article closer... haha. Problems with skimming through. I admit it... i just read like 3 sentances. 

[Javier]

lol i see.