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The remains of an Aztec child sacrifice were found in an unusual burial at the Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan in Mexico.

Archaeologists Have Unearthed a Literally Heart-Rending Aztec Child Sacrifice to the God of War

Archaeologists have made a startling discovery while excavating at the Templo Mayor of the city of Tenochtitlan . They’ve unearthed the remains of a child who they believe was sacrificed to the Aztec...
Depiction of Huitzilopochtli in the Tovar Codex.

Huitzilopochtli: The Hummingbird War God at the Forefront of the Aztec Pantheon

Huitzilopochtli was one of the most important deities in the Aztec pantheon. They saw him as the god of the sun, warfare, military conquest, sacrifice, and the patron god of Tenochtitlan...
Ehecatl

Ehecatl: The Aztec Wind God was Hard to Pin Down

Ehecatl was the wind god of the Aztec pantheon. As a weather deity, he was also indirectly connected to agriculture and the fertility of the land. Additionally, Ehecatl is commonly regarded to be an...
Xochiquetzal, with flower (Codex Fejérváry-Mayer, page 29)

Xochiquetzal: Aztec Goddess of Beauty, Pleasure and Love… But Don’t Mess With Her!

According to the Aztecs, Xochiquetzal was the goddess of beauty, pleasure, and love. She is commonly associated with such beautiful things as flowers, plants, song and dance, which is quite distinct...
The temple was discovered when archaeologists were analyzing the damage in Teopanzolco pyramid.

Mexican Earthquake Reveals Secret Temple in an Aztec Era Pyramid

The 7.1-magnitude earthquake which hit Mexico in September 2017 took hundreds of lives and caused considerable damage. At the Teopanzolco pyramid archaeological site, two temples were hit...
Magnificent columns in the form of Toltec warriors in Tula

Toltecs: Fierce Warriors Who Changed the Face of Mesoamerica for Good

The Toltec culture was a pre-Columbian culture that dominated the area of what is today central Mexico from the 10 th to the 12 th centuries AD. They ruled the region from their capital of Tollan (...
Kukulkan as a snake deity at the base of the west face of the northern stairway of El Castillo, Chichen Itza

Kukulcan, the Snake God of the Maya, Remains as a Legacy of the Once-Powerful Civilization

Kukulcan was the all-powerful snake god worshipped by the Maya. While little information remains about the legends and mythology of Kukulcan – due to the tragic destruction of the Maya codices by the...
Daniel del Valle, Moctezuma II Museo Nacional De Arte

Moctezuma II, The Emperor who Lost an Empire

Moctezuma II was the 9 th ruler of the Aztec Empire, whose unfortunate reign coincided with the arrival of the Spanish under the conquistador Hernan Cortez (Hernán Cortés). Moctezuma is remembered...
Chalchiuhtlicue final model.

Navigating the Realm of an Aztec Water Goddess and One of the Five Suns

The Aztecs placed an array of important life elements in the hands of Chalchiuhtlicue. She was primarily a goddess of freshwater, thus her domain included lakes, rivers, and streams. But she also...
Representation of Cuauhtémoc, the last tlatoani

Aztec Leaders: Rulers, Supreme Ruler and the Voice of the People

A tlatoani sat at the top of the Aztec city-state hierarchical structure. He was the ruler or king of his people and was thought to speak for them. Whilst each Aztec city-state had its own tlatoani,...
Detail of ‘Xipe Totec.’ (Michael Jaecks/Deviant Art) Background: Aztec calendar

Xipe Totec: This Gory God Shows the Unique Way Aztecs Viewed Fertility and Renewal

‘Our Lord the Flayed One’ – following this god’s choice of attire, human skin - Xipe Totec would have been a terrifying sight. But this was an extremely important deity in the Mesoamerican pantheon,...
Modern day Pok-ta-pok players in action

3,000-Year-Old Ball Game Where Winners Lost Their Heads Is Revived in Mexico

In order to commemorate and honor Mexican heritage, teams from Mexico and Belize competed against each other in a three millennia-old game known as Ulama. The game took place in the ancient Mayan...
Model of the Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan

Sacrificial gifts found at Aztec Temple in Mexico feature a trove of diverse species

One of the great archaeological sites in Mexico is the sprawling ancient city of Tenochtitlan, religious center and capital of the Aztec civilization. Templo Mayor (The Great Temple) was a huge...
Aztec sculpture representing the head of the aztec god Xolotl, exhibited in the Mexico room of the Museo Nacional de Antropología de México.

Xolotl – The Underworld Dog God of the Aztecs

According to Aztec mythology, Xolotl was a deity normally associated with Quetzalcoatl, one of the most important gods in the Aztec pantheon. As a matter of fact, Xolotl was regarded to be the twin...
Shields bearing image of Ahuizotl, Museum of Ethnology, Vienna.

Was the Ahuizotl an Aztec Mythical Creature or a Real Fisherman’s Foe?

The Ahuizotl (which may be translated from Nahuatl to mean ‘Thorny One of the Water’) is a creature found in the mythology of the Aztecs. This legendary creature is believed to inhabit the lakes and...
Salmonella bacteria, a common cause of foodborne disease, invade an immune cell.

Scientists Find DNA Evidence of the Bacteria that Almost Wiped out the Aztecs

Architectural investigations of the Grand Plaza resulted in the unexpected discovery of a large epidemic cemetery associated with the 1545-1550 cocoliztli epidemic. The cemetery was found to contain...
Aztec Avenue of the Dead stretches out before pyramids and shops of Mexico.

Did Spanish Spin Doctors Change the Name of Teotihuacan to Sabotage the City?

The famous archaeological site of Teotihuacan may have served a different purpose for the Aztecs to what Spanish chroniclers claimed. A possibly deliberate change of the city’s name suggests that it...
Aerial view of Nahualac lake when dry. Image: Arturo Cruz, Terrasat Cartografía.

Has a Millennium Old ‘Floating’ Replica of the Aztec Cosmos Been Found In Mexico?

Mexican archaeologists claim to have unearthed a stone sanctuary in a small lake on the side of a volcano east of Mexico City that may have been created as a miniature model of the universe. Stone "...
Top left to Bottom Left: Serpent artifact, (Author), Single serpent, Kukulkan, (Jose Miguel, Almeyda), Serpent model, (Author), Serpent heads Kukulkan, (Jose Miguel Almeyda)

A Serpent Raises its Head in Georgia: Is this Evidence of an Aztec Connection?

A recently discovered artifact in Northern Georgia is a testament to the importance of religious art in the spiritual lives of the area’s ancient Indigenous residents. What can such an oddly placed...
Quetzalcoatl – Public Domain, and El Castillo at Chichén Itzá – CC BY-SA 4.0

The ‘Myth’ of the Plumed Serpent: Revealing the Real Message Behind the Feathered Snake

The Plumed (or Feathered) Serpent is a Mesoamerican myth that has fascinated modern people for quite some time. Among the Aztecs and Toltecs this divinity went by the name of Quetzalcoatl and to the...
 Food in the Maya culture: mural, National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City

Will Prince Charles Succeed in Reviving Long-Lost Foods from our Ancient Past?

The Prince of Wales has launched a new initiative in the hope of finding “long-lost and unfashionable” foods that could grow in extreme climates and feed millions of people around the world. The...
Mesoamerican ballgame latterly known as ‘Ulama’, using ‘Hipball’ rules

Playing Ball in Ancient Belize: 1,300-year-old Stone Panels Depicting Mayan Ballplayers Revealed

Archaeologists have deciphered two 1,300-year-old stone panels that depict ancient Mayans playing with large balls while carrying impressive fans. The panels were found at the archaeological site of...
Statue of the God Chac-Mool, located inside a chamber in the pyramid of Kukulcán in Chichén Itzá, Mexico

A Rogue Archaeologist, Atlantis, and the Chac-Mool

In the late 1890s, as America was developing into an industrial heavyweight, its scientists and explorers were rediscovering Earth’s ancient past and charting forgotten civilizations around our...
From this map of the site, all the main structures and rock carvings are visible.

The Megalithic Temple of Malinalco: Could these Magnificent and Complex Rock-Cut Structures Actually Pre-Date the Aztecs?

The little town of Malinalco lies at the margins of the Valley of Tepoztlan, some 115 kilometers (71 miles) to the southwest of Mexico City. Since Prehispanic times, its name has been associated with...

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