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La Noche triste (the sad night).	Source: Public Domain

The Hunt for Montezuma’s Stolen Aztec Treasure (Video)

In November 1519, the formidable Aztec king, Montezuma , ruled over a flourishing empire at its pinnacle. His empire, comprising 500 city-states and nearly 6 million people, centered on the...
Gold Aztec coin. Source: breakermaximus / Adobe Stock.

Is Montezuma's Treasure in Arizona? (Video)

Montezuma's gold is a legendary treasure said to have been hidden by the Aztec emperor Montezuma II during the Spanish conquest of Mexico. According to folklore, the treasure consists of vast amounts...
Bust of Fransisco de Orellana (Ricardo Algár/Adobe Stock) Amazon rainforest (William Perez/Adobe Stock)

Francisco Orellana’s Accidental Discovery Of The Amazon

Among the daring exploits of those early Spanish conquistadors intent on claiming the New World for their own, none are as dramatic as Francisco Orellana’s perilous nine month journey to the Amazon...
Syphilis infections surging through the military had an enormous impact in numerous wars. Source: 4k_Heaven / Adobe Stock

Syphilis: The STD that Won and Lost Wars

In 1494, King Charles VIII of France launched an all-out war against the republics of the Italian peninsula, a watershed moment in history. Within months, 50,000 soldiers from his army had fled, not...
Looking over the jungle in Peten, Guatemala. Source: Adobe Stock / Xavier

New Discoveries At Guatemala's “Last” Maya City

Archaeologists have been digging at “the last” Maya city in Guatemala. Pre-Hispanic graves and artifacts have been found peppered with the shot from conquistadors’ rifles. The lush forests of...
The emerald is known as the gemstone of lovers. Source: Balazs / Adobe Stock

The Bloody Legacy of Emeralds – The Gemstone of Lovers

People are a lot like magpies. We like shiny things. Since the beginning, we have ascribed value to pretty rocks with little practical value. To try and explain their obsession with these stones...
A skull of one of the Spanish syphilis patients who died in Lima’s fist hospital that was built just 20 years after Pizarro took over the Inca Empire.		Source: Municipalidad de Lima

Syphilis-ridden Spanish Skeletons Found at Lima’s First Hospital

The remains of 42 syphilis-ridden, colonial Spaniards have been unearthed at a 500-year-old hospital in Lima. But it’s suspected that beneath these poor afflicted souls, might lie the lost mummified...
The 1540–1542 Coronado Expedition, in a circa 1900 painting by Frederic Remington, heads north after travelling inland from the Gulf of Mexico.		Source: Frederic Remington / Public domain

16th Century Spanish Coronado Expedition Site Found in Arizona

An Arizona-based archaeologist claims to have found artifacts linked to the famous 16th-century Spanish Coronado Expedition led by Spanish conquistador Francisco Vázquez de Coronado. The Coronado...
Examples of the Chincha spines on sticks.	Source: C. O’Shea / Antiquity Publications Ltd

Ancient Peruvians Reassembled Spines on Sticks to Honor the Dead

The European invasion of the Americas (both North and South) is one of the most destructive colonizing efforts in human history, particularly because of the unimaginable horrors suffered by the...
It was this skull, found on the uninhabited island of Petite Mustique in the Caribbean, that was used in the recent leprosy research study.					Source: International Journal of Paleopathology

Caribbean Island Skull Reveals Evidence of Old World Leprosy, Study

A ground-breaking recent leprosy research study published in the International Journal of Paleopathology used the fragments of a skull found on an uninhabited Caribbean island called Petite Musique...
Will Pope Apologize to Mexico for Church Complicity during Spanish Conquest?

Will Pope Apologize to Mexico for Church Complicity during Spanish Conquest?

The President of Mexico has written a letter to Pope Francis asking for an apology over the Catholic Church’s role in the brutal repression of indigenous people during the Spanish conquest of the...
Part of the Maya wall paintings featuring musicians dressed in European attire (three figures on the left) and a dancer in Maya dress (rightmost figure).  Image: R. Słaboński / Antiquity Publications Ltd

Stunning Maya Wall Paintings Uncovered in Guatemalan House

Remarkable Maya wall paintings have been found in Guatemala that are unparalleled in Central America . These newly discovered Maya murals are special because they contain both indigenous and Spanish...
The Last of the Clan’ (1865) by Thomas Faed. Attempts for a Scottish colony in Panama were futile. Source: Public Domain

The Caledonian Dream: A Scottish Colony’s American Nightmare

The conquest of the New World was devastating for its ancient cultures; its aftershocks are still deeply felt today in communities across the Americas. Soon after Spain’s subjugation, other European...
The skull of one of the individuals studied, in which the dental modifications are apparent, and the tubes used for isotope and genetic tests, both of which were carried out as part of our study.       Source: Collection of San José de los Naturales, Osteology Laboratory, (ENAH), Mexico City, Mexico. Photo: R. Barquera & N. Bernal.

Bones Reveal Story of Three African Slaves During Spanish Colonialism

Despite the infamy of the transatlantic slave trade , scientific research has yet to fully explore the history of the enslaved Africans brought into Latin America. In a study appearing April 30th in...
Priest in Tenochtitlan Plucks the Heart from Human Sacrifice. Date: circa 1500. Credit:  Archivist / Adobe Stock

Secrets of Living Human Heart Extraction Revealed

In the mid-16th century the hyper-violent forces of Spanish conquistadors burned, tortured, raped and spread diseases as they made their way across Mesoamerica in the name of their one god. Yet they...
Representation of diver inspecting a shipwreck.         Source: Wojciech / Adobe stock

Breakthrough in Hunt for Spanish Shipwreck’s Greatest Ever Treasure

Marine archaeologists are renewing their search for a Spanish treasure shipwreck, the Juncal. It is believed that the ship had a cargo of treasure, including precious metals and jewels, when it sank...
Street art illustrating what the Spanish conquistadores did to the Inca during their conquest and the Battle of Cajamarca. Source: shantihesse / Adobe Stock.

The Battle of Cajamarca – The Conquest of the Spanish and the End of the Inca Empire

The Battle of Cajamarca was a battle fought between the Spanish and Inca in 1532. The battle, which is sometimes considered to be an ambush or a skirmish, saw a small band of Spaniards led by the...
Gold Bar known as the ‘Golden Yew’. Source: INAH.

Test Show’s Aztec Gold Bar Was Lost By Fleeing Conquistadors

A chemical analysis of a gold bar in Mexico revealed that it was part of the treasure stolen by the Spanish conquistadors during the conquest of the Aztec Empire. Researchers believe that they have...
Anchor believed to belong to a ship of the Spanish Conquistadors.     Source: INAH

Artifacts Thought to be of Spanish Conquistador’s Fleet Found

Marine archaeologists may have found artifacts linked to the Spanish Conquest of Mexico. They have discovered anchors on the seabed in the Gulf of Mexico. These finds are believed to have belonged to...
Zultepec-Tecoaque archaeological site in Tlaxcala, Mexico

Archaeological site in Mexico reveals sacrifice and cannibalization of Spanish conquistadors

Excavations at the Zultepec-Tecoaque archaeological site in Tlaxcala, Mexico, have revealed that indigenous Acolhuas peoples captured a caravan of 550 conquistadors and their allies in 1520, kept...
Left; Grolier Codex, Page 4. Right; Grolier Codex, Page 7.        Source: Left; Public Domain  Right; Public Domain

Experts in Mexico Finally Declare the Grolier Codex is the Real Deal

Mexico's National Institute of History and Anthropology has announced that a controversial document, previously known as the “Grolier Codex”, is authentic. After years of scrutiny, they have finally...
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...
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...
Caves of Loltun, Mexico

Loltun Cave Art and Precious Clues to the Lost Mayan Civilization

There is a kid’s poem written by Jean Marzollo that begins: “In fourteen hundred ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.” It goes on speak about the challenges and wonders of Columbus’s voyage to...

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