Latest news in Yorkshire: July 03, 2017 09:30:48 AM
A tower of human skulls unearthed beneath the heart of Mexico City has raised new questions about the culture of sacrifice in the Aztec empire, after crania of women and children surfaced among the hundreds embedded in the forbidding structure.
Archaeologists have found more than 650 skulls caked in lime and thousands of fragments in the cylindrical edifice near the site of the Templo Mayor, one of the main temples in the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan, which later became Mexico City.
The tower is believed to form part of the Huey Tzompantli, a massive array of skulls that struck fear into the Spanish conquistadores when they captured the city under Hernan Cortes. The structure was mentioned in contemporary accounts.
Historians relate how the severed heads of captured warriors adorned tzompantli, or skull racks, found in a number of Mesoamerican cultures before the Spanish conquest. But the archaeological dig in the bowels of old Mexico City that began in 2015 suggests that picture was not complete.
“We were expecting just men, obviously young men, as warriors would be, and the thing about the women and children is that you’d think they wouldn’t be going to war,” said Rodrigo Bolanos, a biological anthropologist investigating the find.
“Something is happening that we have no record of, and this is really new, a first in the Huey Tzompantli.”
Raul Barrera, one of the archaeologists working at the site alongside the huge Metropolitan Cathedral built over the Templo Mayor, said the skulls would have been set in the tower after they had stood on public display on the tzompantli.
Roughly six meters in diameter, the tower stood on the corner of the chapel of Huitzilopochtli, Aztec god of the sun, war and human sacrifice. Its base has yet to be unearthed.
There was no doubt that the tower was one of the skull edifices mentioned by Andres de Tapia, a Spanish soldier who accompanied Cortes in the 1521 conquest of Mexico, Barrera said.
In his account of the campaign, de Tapia said he counted tens of thousands of skulls at what became known as the Huey Tzompantli. Barrera said 676 skulls had been found, and that the number would rise as excavations went on.
The Aztecs and other Mesoamerican peoples performed ritualistic human sacrifices as offerings to the sun.
- Advice to Barnsley residents following burglaries
- College students present Antigone
- New Sponsor for Wath Comprehensive School
- Sheffield man sentenced for assault
- UK’s first Tram Train to welcome passengers this month
- Free bus travel helps thousands of young people take part in community projects
- Wath High Street Coronation Celebration 1936
- Wath Grammar School Reunion
- Man charged in connection to murder of Barnsley woman
- wathupondearne Latest news in Yorkshire: October 30, 2018 02:42:20 PM Over 80 stalls set to be occupied in The Glass Works for first day of trading Over 80 stalls are set to be occupied in the new Barnsley Market Hall ahead of its opening on Friday 2 November. Traders are busy preparing for the move into The Glass Works following the hugely successful move of meat and fish traders into the Barnsley Market Food Hall at the start of September. And today, Barnsley Council is delighted to announce that almost all of the stalls in the market will be occupied on the first day of trading with the remainder opening over the next few months. Fifty-three stalls will set up on the ground floor of the market on opening day with others moving in before the end of the year. Upstairs, 32 of the 40 units will be occupied. The remaining eight are set to be let before the end of the year. The opening of Barnsley Market Hall – a momentous occasion in the market’s rich history – will take place on May Day Green on Friday 2 November with an official opening a day later on Saturday 3 November. The first exciting details about the occasion can now be revealed. The Mayor of Barnsley, Councillor Steve Green, will ring the traditional market bell after a speech from Leader of Barnsley Council, Sir Steve Houghton. We’ll be celebrating the history of Barnsley Market with your market memories – while there will also be family entertainment, promotions, competitions and special guest appearances. The move of market traders into the new Market Hall represents a huge milestone in The Glass Works project. Traders from Market Parade will leave their temporary home underneath the multi-storey car park after trading on Saturday 20 October. May Day Green Market will remain open until Saturday 27 October. They will move into the new Market Hall – a bright, modern and spacious market setting more akin to a department store. The new market will also feature extended opening hours and Thursday openings. Meanwhile, market cafes are preparing to move into Market Kitchen later in the month with more details on the move and flagship food court to be announced soon. Councillor Roy Miller, Cabinet Spokesperson for Place, said: “The opening of Barnsley Market Hall will be a fantastic occasion. We’re extremely excited to welcome the traders into The Glass Works and right back into the heart of Barnsley town centre. “The redevelopment of our town centre is built around our famous market. Barnsley has had a market since 1249; it’s what we’re famous for and that’s why the new market is at the centre of The Glass Works. People from far and wide will want to visit the famous Barnsley Market and celebrate what’s sure to be a fantastic next chapter in its rich history. “I want to urge local people to come out and support our brilliant market traders in the Market Hall and Food Hall, both for the opening and moving forward into the future.” Following the market’s move into The Glass Works, the temporary building on May Day Green will be dismantled and sold on, while Market Parade will come down with the multi-storey car park in January. The opening of Barnsley Market Hall – together with the Food Hall – is part of the multi-million pound redevelopment of Barnsley town centre, which includes The Glass Works, markets, public realm, Library @ The Lightbox and Market Gate Bridge. You can follow all the latest updates on social media by following
- Appeal for witnesses following collision in Wombwell
- Be an angel and support Rotherham’s community arts project
- More Barnsley families on their way to getting five a day
- Life behind bars for child killer who sexually abused young girls
- Best Bar None and Healthy Workplace Awards
- Mexborough South Yorkshire
- Henry Boot Construction wins prestigious national award for work on Barnsley Market
- Girlineers inspire local school pupils
- Did you witness motorcycle collision in Wath?
- NEW ENGLISH FRIENDS COMMUNITY LAUNCHED
- Rotherham peer charged with rape and indecent assault
- Man jailed for vehicle crime in Sheffield
- Success for GPS dementia sufferer trackers
- Woman dies after car hits broken down car on M1
- E-fit released in connection to Doncaster sexual assault
- Rotherham robbery – can you help police?
- Wath All Saints Church
- Unauthorised term time holidays
- New homes for Rotherham will be a boost for tenants and first time buyers
- Barnsley officers take action against ‘cuckooing’
- Rotherham’s giant of a pantomime is launched!
- Advice in the community for older people
- Fraud investigation launched in Rotherham
- Fatal collision in Brierley, Barnsley
- Introducing Funny Thursdays – April Fools Comedy Fest in Barnsley Markets!
- Northern strike to go ahead tomorrow
- John Gogarty murder: Killer ‘given wrong risk assessment’
- wathupondearne Latest news in Yorkshire: October 16, 2018 06:47:43 PM
- BDR Waste Partnership launches composting campaign
- Footprints of water on Mars