2,000-Year-Old Realistic Green Mask Found Nestled Inside an Ancient Pyramid

Mexico has many remarkable archaeological sites that provide insight into its pre-Columbian history. Among the most impressive structures is the Pyramid of the Sun, which continues to reveal amazing discoveries.

Built approximately in 100 CE, this pyramid is the largest structure in Teotihuacan and has been under continuous research by archaeologists.

Although few artifacts have been unearthed on-site, in 2011,researchers from Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) made a surprising discovery using a 380-foot-long tunnel excavated by archaeologists in the 1930s.

By using the tunnel, the team was able to reach the mother-rock level. Upon arrival, they discovered a valuable assortment of artifacts, such as fragments of clay pottery, animal bones, obsidian pieces, three serpentine human figurines, and a remarkable “Green” serpentine mask. The green mask holds significant interest as, during its unearthing, it was the sole mask of its type discovered in a ritual context in Teotihuacan.

According to a statement by INAH, the discovery comprises 11 ceremonial clay pots dedicated to a rain god resembling Tlaloc. The findings also included animal bones, such as rabbits fed to eagles, and feline and canine remain yet to be identified.

These offerings were placed on a rubble base where the temple was built around 50 AD. It is noteworthy that Tlaloc was still revered in the region even after 1,500 years.

These offerings were believed to be deposited as part of a ritual to inaugurate the pyramid’s construction, which explains their location at the lower level. The discovery of this mask was particularly noteworthy because it depicted a human face with remarkable accuracy and simplicity.

This is significant due to the importance of masks in indigenous people’s religious practices. The Aztecs, in particular, were a culture that placed great value on masks, as noted by renowned anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss.

There are numerous types of masks, both intended for wear and crafted as miniature versions, possibly for use as amulets. With a history of mask-making in the region spanning millennia, ranging from rudimentary pottery to intricate art pieces, the diversity of masks would have been remarkable, given their various shapes and forms.

Unfortunately, only a limited number of masks have been discovered despite the estimated abundance of them, but the depictions of masks throughout history strongly suggest that many more existed over the centuries.

The Pyramid of the Sun, known today as the world’s third-largest pyramid, was named by the Aztecs who visited Teotihuacan centuries after its abandonment. The original name of the pyramid remains a mystery.

Teotihuacan was once a flourishing city known as the City of the Gods, with a population of 200,000 at its peak. However, researchers have yet to learn about the people who inhabited this city and why they disappeared.

In the Aztec culture, masks played an essential role in religious ceremonies as they were meant to represent one of their many gods. The Aztecs were known for their artistic skills and colorful masks.

However, the few masks discovered so far had strong symbolism, such as animal features or distorted proportions compared to humans.

Some scholars suggest that individuals did not wear masks during their duties. Instead, they were placed on holders or over a skull, sent as tokens to other rulers and chiefs, or used as death masks.

This might explain why some masks were not carved out to allow the wearer to see. Despite this, most of the masks showed some elaboration or alteration of the human figure.

Masks have played a central role in the religion and rituals of Mesoamerican civilizations for millennia. Therefore, finding a mask resembling a buried person is unique.

New archaeological findings in the future may shed more light on this discovery, the site at large, and the beautiful Mesoamerican cultures.

The National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) has been researching to uncover more information about the ancient civilization of Teotihuacán.

One of the recent discoveries made by INAH was an underground tunnel found beneath the Pyramid of the Moon. The use of electrical resistance technology enabled the mapping of the tunnel without the need for ground excavation.

The tunnel leads to an underground chamber, preceded by a chamber measuring 49 feet in diameter. This newly discovered chamber may hold more treasures. The accumulation of these findings will hopefully provide more insight into the civilization of Teotihuacán and reveal more information about its decline.

Verónica Ortega, the director of the Integral Conservation Project for the Plaza of the Moon, explains that the large offering complexes constitute the sacred heart of Teotihuacan, making it a mecca for civilization.

The discoveries made within these complexes can help to unravel the relationship that the ancient metropolis had with other regions of Mesoamerica.

Archaeologists Found More Than 200-year-old Shipwreck In Mexico’s Caribbean

A fisherman discovered a coral-coated shipwreck off the coast of Mexico that has laid hidden beneath the surface for over 200 years.

The wreck is named after Manuel Polanco, the man who discovered it, and sits in a watery grave just 21 miles from Majahual on Mexico’s Caribbean coast.

Archaeologists dated the wooden remains to the 18th or 19th century and although it is degraded, metal parts, iron ingots, the anchor and an eight-foot cannon are still intact.

The team believes the vessel sank after hitting the Chinchorro Bank, which was known for centuries as ‘ Nightmare reef ‘ or ‘Sleep-robbing reef’ due to the dangers it posed to sailors.

Researchers from Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) found the shipwreck after receiving a tip from Polanco who spotted it while diving in the waters.

‘The fishermen are the ones who know Chinchorro best since they navigate it daily to earn their living, diving the Caribbean waters to find fish, lobsters or conch, that they sell in Mahahual or Xcalak, and often they happen to find submerged archaeological contexts,’ INAH shared in a press release.

‘Manuel Polanco is an example of this, because although he is now retired from diving, in the ’60s and ’70s, he found the remains of various shipwrecks, including two of the most iconic in Banco Chinchorro: ’40 Cañones’ and ‘The Angel’.’

Polanco alerted archaeologists about the wreck in the 1990s, but experts have only made the first dives to inspect it in the past two months.

Unfortunately, Polanco is now in his golden years and was unable to accompany the researchers to inspect the wooden remains.

When the team dove to the depths where the ship laid, they found the organic material had degraded over the centuries.

Laura Carrillo Márquez, SAS researcher and head of the Banco Chinchorro Project, said: ‘It lies directly on the reef barrier where the ocean current is strong.’ ‘Only the solid elements remain, encrusted into the reef.’

She noted all that remained were the pig iron ingots that were used as ballast, some tubes, a cannon approximately eight feet long and an anchor.

Because the anchor was ‘active’, Márquez believes that the crew saw the reef up ahead and hoped to slow down the boat before crashing.

However, the anchor was unable to stop the vessel and it collided with the ‘Nightmare reef.’

‘Although some of the vestiges seem to indicate a British affiliation, the INAH researcher clarifies that this hypothesis must be yet corroborated or discarded, through analyses that will be meticulously done, taking care of the natural environment of the site,’ Márquez explained.

A cemetery discovered in Mexico City illustrates evolving burial practises

INAH experts recovered the skeletal remains of 21 individuals during the construction of the so-called “Pavellón Escénico“, in Chapultepec Park, Mexico City.

A cemetery from the early viceregal period (1521-1620 AD) was found in the area where the Chapultepec Forest Garden and “Pabellón Escénico” (Scenic Pavilion) are being built, reports the Ministry of Culture.

Experts from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), through the Directorate of Archaeological Rescue (DSA), made the discovery in the area known as ecological parking.

In the text, the coordinator of the DSA, María de Lourdes López Camacho, explains that during the monitoring of the works as part of the Chapultepec Project, the INAH dug a two-by-two-meter test pit, and “human skeletal remains were detected from 1.37 meters deep.

With the field assistance of archaeologists Blanca Copto Gutiérrez and Alixbeth Daniela Aburto Pérez, “it was decided to double the excavation.

In the last three weeks, the team recovered the bones – in various states of conservation – of 21 individuals, mostly female and male adults, including a couple of infants”, adds the archaeologist.

It details that the burials were carried out directly in the ground and at three different moments during the first century after the fall of Mexico-Tenochtitlan. 

“Despite the fact that most of the burials presented the same west-east orientation, which alludes to the belief in the resurrection in the Christian faith, their arrangement suggests two types of population: one of indigenous origin, probably Mexica, and another European”.

The archaeologist explains that for the most part, “individuals were placed outstretched with their arms crossed over their chests or in the pelvic region, as indicated by the Catholic funeral rite; However, two were buried in a flexed and lateral way, in the Mesoamerican style, not to mention that another couple of individuals were buried carrying a seal and a green obsidian blade, both pre-Hispanic”.

According to their studies, it is a collective burial that corresponds to an early viceroyalty cemetery, “because it shows the transition from pre-Hispanic funeral customs to those implemented with the arrival of the Spaniards and their religious system.”

The report adds that “according to the coordinator of the DSA Bioarchaeology Section, Jorge Arturo Talavera González, who made a first osteological report -which will be complemented with other analyses, including DNA-, the epigenetic traits of certain individuals indicate the presence of two different populations in that context, the Amerindian individuals being identifiable by their spade-shaped teeth .”

Regarding health conditions, the document concludes, “preliminary observations indicate that the people buried suffered, among other conditions, hypoplasia, attrition and dental calculus (wear of enamel and dental structure, as well as tartar), inflammation of the periosteum ( fibrous sheath that covers the bones) and other infectious processes, as well as diseases related to the nutritional deficit”.

A woman discovered the mummies in her garage in 1980 while cleaning

In 1966, two California teenagers became fascinated with Mummies and Archaeology. They wanted to make a find for themselves and had heard that the prehistoric tribes of northern Mexico had a tradition of burying their dead in caves.

Near Sunny San Diego, the small area known as Lemon Grove is famous for its Giant Lemon, a sight to behold for all roadside novelty-seekers. Also, mummies. 

What do you do when your earnest search for a mummy actually yields one? What if it yields two? If you are the two teenage boys who managed to find this treasure trove of mummification, you panic and hide them in a garage. 

In 1966, two California boys went to Chihuahua, Mexico in search of mummies.

Quite the mummy fanatics, they knew Indian tribes had once brought their dead to the cool, dry caves near Chihuahua, and considered the area prime hunting grounds for a mummy of their very own.

For over a month, they peeked into every nook and cranny of the caves until their tenacity finally paid off – the boys not only found a coveted mummy, they found two.

The boys gazed at their prizes, the mummified remains of a teenage girl, as well as the tinier corpse of a one-year-old. Despite their determination to find them, they were now faced with the reality of having them.

They couldn’t exactly carry the bodies out of the country in backpacks, and the gravity of their mothers finding out began to become a very worrisome, previously overlooked issue.

So the boys did what any secret-keeping teen would-they smuggled the bodies over the border, and convinced a friend to hide them in her garage. 

With no real endgame in sight, the boys left their macabre finds in this safe location-safe that is until their friend’s mother decided that it was tie to do some spring cleaning. 14 years after being stashed away behind the garden tools and moving boxes, the girls were found.

The woman who found them was understandably shaken and naturally assumed that some sort of murder had taken place. Stolen mummies stashed there by neighbour kids isn’t exactly the first place the mind goes.

The police recognized immediately that the bodies were not likely to be murder victims, but could not figure out how the two ancient cadavers found their way into this suburban family garage-the teen is thought to have died between  A.D. 1040 and 1260.

While they investigated, the mummies were delivered to the San Diego Museum of Man for safekeeping. 

Fondly nicknamed “The Lemon Grove Girl”, the teenage mummy and her infant companion were stashed away until rightful ownership could be sorted.

Eventually, the police caught up with the boys, who were now grown men of course, and asked for an explanation. The men told their story, and in an ever so generous act of contrition offered to donate their mummies to the Museum of Man. 

The officials, eyes rolling, informed the men that due to their juvenile status when the crime was committed and the time that had passed, they were lucky that no charges would be pressed, and thanked them for the charitable offer, but the mummies were not theirs to give.

The museum however was very keen on becoming the keeper of the girls, and after being granted permission by the Mexican government to retain them, including the Lemon Grove Girl in their gorgeous Ancient Egypt and Mummies exhibit.

Ancient Mayan skeletons dating back 7,000 years discovered in Mexican cave

Archaeologists in Mexico have uncovered the ruins of the Maya ancient civilization, which date back 7,000 years and provide further insight into their enigmatic everyday lives.

According to experts, the age of the bones discovered corresponds to a period when humans transitioned from hunters to sedentary lifestyles.

In the Tacotalpa municipality of Tabasco state in southern Mexico, three Maya skeletons were discovered in the Puyil cave.

Experts have calculated that one is up to 7,000 years old, while the remaining two dates back around 4,000 years.

Archaeologist Alberto Martos said: “Seven thousand years old is what we’ve just placed it, which is the period of transition from being hunters to sedentarism.

“There were different groups during this time that used the caves, clearly it wasn’t a domestic cave.

“In prehistoric times it was probably used for rituals and cemeteries so as to dispose of remains of people. “For the Maya, it was a cave of ancestors.

“This cave was used by the Maya, they respected the remains that were already there and left their own remains inside.”

Earlier this month, scientists claimed an enormous drought that swept across Mexico around 1,000 years ago triggered the demise of the Mayas.

Those studying the climate at the time of the ancient civilization found rainfall fell by up to 70 percent at the time the region’s city-states were abandoned.

Nick Evans, a Ph.D. student at the University of Cambridge, was part of a team of international researchers that was able to calculate the conditions on the Yucatan Peninsula at the time of the decline using sediment samples from a local lake.

He said: “The role of climate change in the collapse of Classic Maya civilization is somewhat controversial, partly because previous records are limited to qualitative reconstructions, for example, whether conditions were wetter or drier.

“Our study represents a substantial advance as it provides statistically robust estimates of rainfall and humidity levels during the Maya downfall.”

The Maya civilization was noted for its hieroglyphic script – the only known fully developed writing system of the pre-Columbian Americas.

As one of the most dominant civilizations in Mesoamerica, they built cities with elaborate ceremonial buildings and huge stone pyramids to form large parts of Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.

They also made advances in agriculture, calendar-making, and mathematics, reaching their peak at around the sixth century AD.

It is thought the Mayas Skeletons invented the concept of ‘zero’.

This allowed them to work out complex calculations and create detailed and accurate calendars.

But by 900AD, their stone cities were deserted, creating much mystery around the reasons for their demise.

In addition to the drought that swept across Mexico, other theories for their demise have included overpopulation, military conflict, or a major environmental event.