Posted on 10/15/2006 6:14:02 AM PDT by Flavius
MEXICO CITY - Archaeologists announced Friday that a monolith discovered earlier this month near Mexico City's main square is perhaps the largest ever unearthed in the city's center. ADVERTISEMENT
The monolith, found on Oct. 2, is rectangular and measures nearly 13 feet on its longest side. The largest monolith from the city's center until this latest discovery — the circular Piedra del Sol, or Aztec Calendar, unearthed in 1790 — has a diameter of 12 feet.
"At this time, the most important thing about this is its size," said the lead archaeologist on the excavation project, Alvaro Barrera.
The 24-ton Aztec Calendar stone, however, is nearly double the weight of the newcomer, which is estimated to be a mere 14 tons.
"It's tough to say which is the biggest, because the Piedra del Sol (Aztec Calendar) weighs more, but its circular radius is not as long as this monolith's largest side," said Angel Romas, information director of the Templo Mayor Museum, which is collaborating with the archaeological team.
Barrera noted that the full significance of the discovery will not become clear until the excavation is complete, in about a month. "We've excavated the top of the monolith but we still don't know what's beneath it," he said.
The archaeological team thus far has removed 480 cubic feet of earth from the area around the top of the monolith. The group estimates that in order to be able to completely view the monolith, they need to remove another 13.5 cubic meters.
A part of a newly discovered monolith is shown at the archaeological site of Templo Mayor, Mexico City Friday, Oct. 13, 2006, in Mexico City. Archaeologists announced Friday that a monolith discovered Oct. 2 near Mexico City's main square is perhaps the largest ever found in the city's center. The newest discovery is rectangular and measures nearly 4 meters (13 feet) on its longest side. (AP Photo/Guillermo Arias)
ggg ping
Is it full of stars ?
When the sun hit the monolith, it emitted this high-pitched frequency ...
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Thus Spake Zarathustra
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...a mere 14 tons.Pipsqueak. Somebody wake me when someone finds one over 100 tons.
My programming prevents me from answering that.
Cool!
Mexican Archaeologists Find Largest Aztec Figure
Yahoo News | 10-13-2006 | Gunter Hamm
Posted on 10/14/2006 3:22:36 PM EDT by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1719445/posts
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