This structure was first discovered in the center of Mexico City in 2015.
Archaeologists from the Mexican National Institute of Anthropology and History have unearthed new pieces of an Aztec skull tower located just below the center of modern Mexico City.
According to experts, the discovered parts of the structure are the facade and the eastern part of the tower, which together, as scientists have counted, contain 119 skulls, in addition to hundreds of others found earlier.
For the first time, the Way Tsompatli tower, known from legends and historical documents, was discovered in 2015 during the restoration of an old building in the center of the capital.
This structure, known as Way Tsompatli, is believed to be an altar in the sanctuary of the Aztec sun god, war, and human sacrifice.
The tower of skulls was on the side in the temple of Huitzilopochtli – the supreme deity and patron of the main Aztec city of Tenochitlan.
The Aztecs, who spoke the Nahuatl language, inhabited a fairly significant part of central Mexico and had their own state dating back to the XIV-XVI centuries.
Their civilization was conquered by the Spanish conquistadors, who, led by Hernan Cortez, captured Tenochitlan in 1521.
The tower is located where the main temple of the Aztecs Templo Mayor once stood
It is known that a similar structure, made up of human remains, terrified the soldiers who arrived on the American continent with the conquistadors.
This cylinder-shaped structure sits next to Mexico City's central cathedral, which was built on the site of the Templo Mayor, Tenochitlan's main temple.
“The Templo Major continues to amaze us as Way Zompatli is without doubt one of the most impressive archaeological finds in Mexico in recent years,” said Culture Minister Alejandra Frausto.
Archaeologists have established that this tower with a diameter of 4.7 meters was built in three stages, from about 1486 to 1502.
Initially, scientists believed that all the skulls discovered once belonged to enemy soldiers, but it turned out that some of them are the remains of women and children. This gave reason to believe that sacrifices were also made here to the Aztec gods.
“Although we cannot say with certainty how many of them were warriors, perhaps some of them were captured to be sacrificed,” said archaeologist Raul Barrera. “But we know that they became part of a sacred offering, gifts to the gods or even they themselves began to personify deities. “
