[Aztlan] AN UPDATE ON THE SEARCH FOR AHUIZOTL'S TOMB

[michael ruggeri]

Listeros,

In the summer issue of American Archaeology, not online, Johanna  
Tuckman has written a wide ranging update on the ongoing excavations  
in downtown Mexico City below the giant monolith of Tlaltecuhtli that  
was uncovered in October 2006 contiguous to the Templo Mayor.

Here is a URL for that story;
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/08/070809-aztec-tomb.html

And a tiny URL;
http://tinyurl.com/6jwv2a

There are a number of new revelations in this article that Tuckman  
uncovered in talking to the chief archaeologist at the site, Leonardo  
Lopez Lujan.

It was surmised by way of certain indications that below the giant  
Tlaltecuhtli monolith may lie the tomb of Aztec emperor Ahuizotl. If  
this turns out to be true, this would be the first tomb of an Aztec  
tlatoani ever found.

1) Lopez Lujan says that further leads may be showing that Ahuizotl's  
tomb does lie below the monolith. Historical sources point at this  
spot as likely. There are chambers spotted below the monolith using  
modern technology to sense them out.

2) There is a date carved on the monolith with a rabbit and two dots  
on one side and 10 on the other which could be the year 10 Rabbit  
when Ahuizotl died. But it could also say 12 Rabbit, a year of a  
solar eclipse or two Rabbit , the name of a god that eclipsed the sun.

3) There could be three chambers below the monolith as remote sensing  
apparatus may indicate.

4) In February, they uncovered stones that could be the roof of a  
chamber and 3 stone boxes of offerings yet to be opened.. 15,000  
objects have been uncovered so far including 350 species of animals.  
There is an entranceway that may be the place Aztec workers entered  
but it is filled with mud and hampering excavation. Bloodletting  
tools, copal, agave leaves, greenstone beads were found there.

5) The water table is so high at the site that it necessitates three  
pumps working full time and the pumps do not always work well. This  
has slowed the excavations but the water has also created bog like  
conditions which preserves organic matter.

6) Lopez Lujan believes there is a possibility that the two brothers  
of Ahuizotl who ruled before him, Axayacatl and Tizoc may be in the  
chambers as well and perhaps Moctezuma II.

Follow up stories like this one are rare in archaeology where we hear  
of the original find and the theories about them and then we wait  
long periods of time for updates and further information. If the  
tombs are found here, it will be one of the most important  
archaeological finds in all of Mexican history.

Mike Ruggeri


Mike Ruggeri's Aztec and Toltec World
http://tinyurl.com/yqypej