If you look at this map you will see Mexico, a country of southern North America and the
third largest country in Latin America, after Brazil and Argentina.
Mexican society is characterized by extremes of wealth and poverty, with a small middle
class wedged between an elite cadre of landowners and investors and masses of rural and urban
poor.
However, before modern-day Mexico, the Aztecs inhabited this region.
In the early 13th century, the Aztecs, who likely originated as a nomadic tribe in northern
Mexico, arrived in Mesoamerica.
From their magnificent capital city of Tenochtitlan, the Aztecs emerged as the dominant force in
central Mexico, developing a complex social, political, religious, and commercial organization
that by the 15th century brought many of the region's city-states under their control.
In 1521, invaders led by the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés successfully overthrew the
Aztec Empire and captured Tenochtitlan, bringing an end to Mesoamerica's last great indigenous
civilization.
However, archaeologists have just recently made a discovery that sheds new light on an
intriguing aspect of the Aztec civilization.
So, join us in today's video as we delve into this recent archaeological discovery!
The precise origins of the Aztecs are unknown, but it is believed that they emerged as a
northern tribe of hunter-gatherers whose name was derived from their homeland, Aztlan, or
"White Land" in the Nahuatl language of the Aztecs.
While it is not clear where Aztlan was, a number of scholars believe that the Mexica—as
the Aztec referred to themselves—migrated south to central Mexico in the 13th century.
According to legend, the Mexica founded Tenochtitlan at the direction of their patron god Huitzilopochtli.
The legend recounts that Huitzilopochtli told them to find their settlement in the place
where a giant eagle eating a snake was perched on a cactus.
When the Aztecs noticed an eagle perched on a cactus in a marshy area near the southwest
border of Lake Texcoco, they interpreted this as a sign to establish their settlement there.
In 1325 A.D., they drained the wetlands, created artificial islands on which to plant gardens,
and laid the foundations for Tenochtitlan, their capital city.
Typical Aztec crops included maize (corn), beans, squashes, potatoes, tomatoes, and avocados;
they also subsisted on fishing and hunting local animals including rabbits, armadillos,
snakes, coyotes, and wild turkey.
Their relatively sophisticated agricultural system (including intensive land cultivation
and irrigation techniques) and formidable military tradition enabled the Aztecs to establish
a prosperous state and, later, an empire.
In 1428, under the leadership of Itzcoatl, the Aztecs formed a three-way alliance with
the Texcocans and the Tacubans in order to defeat their most powerful rivals for regional
influence, the Tepanec, and conquer their capital, Azcapotzalco.
Montezuma I, Itzcoatl's successor and the man who took power in 1440, was a great warrior
and is remembered as the father of the Aztec empire.
By conquest or commerce, by the beginning of the 16th century the Aztecs ruled over
up to 500 small states and 5 to 6 million people.
At its peak, Tenochtitlán had more than 140,000 inhabitants and was the most densely populated
Mesoamerican city ever to exist.
In addition to a solar calendar with 365 days, Aztec priests used a ritual calendar with
260 days for divination.
As part of their religious practices, the Aztecs performed both bloodletting (offering
one's own blood) and human sacrifice at their central temple in Tenochtitlan, Templo Mayor.
It is believed that the Spanish response to Aztec religious practices contributed to the
brutality of the Spanish conquest.
In 1519, the Spanish, led by Hernando Cortés, arrived in what is now Mexico.
They were searching for gold, and the gifts from Motecuhzoma, ruler of the Mexica, proved
its presence.
Cortés took Motecuhzoma prisoner upon his arrival in Tenochtitlan and attempted to rule
on his behalf, but this did not go well, and in June of 1520 he fled the city.
However, this was not the end of the interactions.
The Spanish conquistadors laid siege to the Aztec capital from the middle of May 1521
until the 13th of August 1521, when the Aztecs surrendered.
A substantial portion of Tenochtitlan was destroyed in the fighting, looted, burned,
or destroyed after its surrender.
Cortés began to build what is now known as Mexico City, the capital of a Spanish colony
of which he was named governor, atop the ruins.
And even today, archaeologists continue to unearth fascinating finds and artefacts that
once belonged to a civilization that has since vanished.
Exequiel Ezcurra, a prominent UCR professor of ecology, recently discovered something
remarkable in the ruins of Mount Tlaloc.
While investigating ancient Mexican farming and agriculture, he stumbled upon an alleged
observatory that aligns with the rising Sun on one day of the year.
Ezcurra discovered that the ancient civilization that lived in the Basin of Mexico used the
mountain to watch the changing seasons in order to determine when to harvest or sow
crops throughout the year.
To feed so many people in an area with a dry spring and summer monsoons, better forecasting
of seasonal weather variations was necessary.
Planting too soon or too late may have had disastrous consequences.
The failure of any calendar to adjust for leap-year fluctuations could also have led
to crop failure.
Prior to the Spanish taking control of Mexico during the period of Spanish colonization,
the residents of the Basin of Mexico thrived in terms of agriculture.
Farmers in the community were aware that the monsoon season began in the summer; yet, they
might have been tempted to start planting their seeds too early because early rainfall
is common and can mislead farmers into thinking that the monsoon season has arrived earlier
than it actually has, causing plants to die off very fast after being planted.
According to Ezcurra, records reveal that this did not occur, so there must have been
some form of tracker in place to properly determine when seeds should be sown.
In his research, Ezcurra notes that the populace lacked instruments for observational techniques
such as compasses, implying that they must have utilized various methods to keep track
of time.
"My initial motivation was to find out how this all began and how these guys came up
with these highly productive agricultural systems so early in human history," Ezcurra
says.
This is how he ended up in the Mexican mountains; civilizations all throughout the world developed
their own calendars.
However, the intricacies of this particular area captivated Ezcurra; he believed that
the locals employed a horizon calendar that determined time by the position of the setting
or rising sun.
As a result, the small team of researchers began looking for locations in the surrounding
area, hoping to unearth any representations or mentions of them in relics or old codes.
Ezcurra and his team used astronomical models to discover that the Rising Sun always falls
perfectly on one of Mount Tlaloc's ruins on the 23rd or 24th of February.
In his own words, on the 23rd or 24th of February, an observer standing in the lower part of
this Stone Causeway looking upwards will see the sun rising exactly in the middle of the
shaft.
The date is significant in the Aztec civilization since it was thought to be the day of the
Aztec New Year.
This study could be the first to show how the Aztecs kept time by applying this principle,
the sun, and the mountains as guiding markers.
Though some people are familiar with the term "Aztec calendar," it refers to the Sun Stone,
possibly the most famous Aztec monument used purely for ritual and ceremonial purposes.
"It did not have any practical use as a celestial observatory.
Think of it as a monument, like Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square or Lincoln's Memorial
in Washington, D.C.," Ezcurra said.
Despite possessing only puzzle pieces and not the full puzzle, Ezcurra has invited other
researchers, scientists, and archaeologists to join him in his inquiry into Mount Tlaloc's
secrets.
He has also advocated for the site's legal protection and preservation.
Besides this, archaeologists also uncovered several stone slabs depicting a calendar and
scenes from Aztec myths during excavations near the temple of Templo Mayor in the heart
of Mexico City.
One plate, for example, depicted the birth of the god of war, Huitzilopochtli, while
others told the story of the sun god's appearance and battle with the goddess of the Moon.
In addition to mythical scenes, some of the tablets depicted various figures, such as
a warrior with a shield or a device for throwing darts, and a man with his hands and feet tied.
The discovery dates back 500 years.
These images, according to the excavations' director, Mexican archaeologist Raul Barrera,
are a form of writing.
They tell of wars, seized people, and bloody Aztec sacrifices.
Archaeologists hope that the discovered bas-reliefs will aid in unravelling the secret symbols
and understanding the meaning of the Aztec civilization's little-studied rituals.
And not so long ago, nearly 2,000 human bones were discovered during excavations in the
same area of the Templo Mayor.
They were all buried together in the grave of a single woman.
Her skeleton has been dormant for 500 years.
Scientists have yet to discover why she was buried in this manner, surrounded by other
people, and who she was during her lifetime.
Scientists note that the burial, which dates back to around 1481-1486 years, is extremely
unusual for the Aztecs and raises many questions.
Among the individual bones were the skulls of seven adults and three children.
Simultaneously, specific traces were discovered on some bones, indicating that the victims'
hearts were extracted during the ritual.
What are your thoughts on these recent discoveries?
Tell us in the comments section.