What looks like a murder probe was discovered in a Mexican cave near the Guatemalan border in an area plagued by violent smuggling gangs. The historic discovery was suspected to be the remains of human sacrifices to the Aztec gods thousands of years ago.
Mexican police were stunned to find a pile of 150 female decapitated skulls at a "beheading" crime scene, Daily Star reported.
skulls of people who were ritually sacrificed.
Part of this tower, called Huei Tzompantli, was uncovered in 2015. The new discovery brings the total number of skulls in it from men, women, and children to 484.
The Aztecs ritually sacrificed people to appease their gods. They displayed the heads of their dead on enormous, cylindrical racks called tzompantli, constructed using rows of skulls mortared together. The Aztecs used these towers to show off their empire s might to enemies and invaders.
Last week, Mexico s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) announced that researchers had discovered a section of one such tower under the ruins of Mexico City s Templo Mayor. It contained 119 skulls from men, women, and children.
Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia (INAH)
Aztecs used such towers, called tzompantli, to display skulls of people who were ritually sacrificed.
Part of this tower, called Huei Tzompantli, was uncovered in 2015. The new discovery brings the total number of skulls in it from men, women, and children to 484.
The Aztecs ritually sacrificed people to appease their gods. They displayed the heads of their dead on enormous, cylindrical racks called tzompantli, constructed using rows of skulls mortared together. The Aztecs used these towers to show off their empire s might to enemies and invaders.
Last week, Mexico s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) announced that researchers had discovered a section of one such tower under the ruins of Mexico City s Templo Mayor. It contained 119 skulls from men, women, and children.
Archaeologists discovered a tower of more than 100 human skulls buried beneath the center of Mexico City.
The structure, called Huei Tzompantli, was originally discovered by Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) in 2015. But after a return to the site earlier this year, the team discovered a tower of 119 skulls, previously hidden,
The tower is believed to have been part of a skull rack, one of seven collections that stood in the old Aztec capital Tenochtitlan. It was likely created in honor of Huitzilopochtli, the Aztec god of sun, war, and human sacrifice.
The INAH has now reported a total of 484 skulls found at the site, dating between 1486 and 1502. It is believed that the temple was destroyed when conquistadors invaded the Aztec Empire and Hernan Cortes captured Tenochtitlan in 1521.