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+--- Thread: Offering to goddess reveals reach of late 15th century Aztec empire (/thread-466.html)
Offering to goddess reveals reach of late 15th century Aztec empire - C C - Jan 13, 2015
http://www.pasthorizonspr.com/index.php/archives/01/2015/offering-to-goddess-reveals-reach-of-late-15th-century-aztec-empire
EXCERPT: In May 2008 a team of researchers forming part of the Templo Mayor project of the historic centre of Mexico City, discovered a large offering which had been placed underneath an enormous statue of the goddess Tlaltecuhtli. Underneath Mexico City lie the ruins of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital, and at its centre was the Templo Mayor. The project researchers believe that this offering was made during the reign of Ahuizotl, who was ruler of the Aztec empire for sixteen years, from 1486 to 1502, and in that time conquered 45 Mesoamerican territories.
[...] The analysis of Offering 126, said Belem Zúñiga, reveals the richness of this sacrifice dedicated to the Aztec earth goddess. The Templo Mayor examples contain the most prized species of fauna which were not those of local origin that could be used as a source of food or raw material for the manufacture of ornaments.
“On the contrary, they used species that were attributed to ritual qualities, so it is not surprising that they invested time and effort in obtaining molluscs from remote locations such as the Yucatan peninsula and the coasts of Sinaloa and Sonora.” Also it is clear “that the Aztec priests also put a lot of time and effort into the preparation and implementation of oblations that emphasised the diverse origins of the molluscs, aspects that also speak of the military and economic might of the Empire“....