AP Exclusive: Aztec leader's tomb found (emperor Ahuizotl)

AP ^ | 08/04/07 | MARK STEVENSON

[TigerLikesRooster]

Ping!

[Candor7]

Let the man rest in peace. Digging him up is definitely bad joss.

[Fred Nerks]

This headdress is reputedly the one worn by Montezuma II, the Aztec leader who was in power in 1519 when the Spanish adventurer Hernán Cortés arrived in Mexico.

[Nathan Zachary]

"The find could provide an extraordinary window into Aztec civilization at its peak. Ahuizotl (ah-WEE-zoh-tuhl), was an empire-builder who extended the Aztecs' reach as far as Guatemala."

So who did they conquer in Mexico before They became established in Mexico? why stop history at the Aztec period? I also question that the Aztecs were at their "peak" before the Spanish invaded. History tells us empires always fall to invading forces because they had become weak, lazy, and suffering from a decaying social order that made them strong in the first place.

[BuffaloJack]

It’s probably just props left over from Mel Gibson’s last visit.

[Nathan Zachary]

Maybe they are diving into an ancient viking latrine...but I guess to archaeologists, “treasure” can be found anywhere.

[elli1]

History tells us empires always fall to invading forces because they had become weak, lazy, and suffering from a decaying social order that made them strong in the first place.

Yeh--and the Winners write the History.

[B-Chan]

AXOLOTL

[WorkingClassFilth]

AZTEC LEADER'S TOMB FOUND!

Ahuizotl's tomb has never been found. No Aztec ruler's funeral chamber ever has. But Mexican archaeologists believe that has finally changed.

...they have detected underground chambers that could contain the remains of Ahuizotl, who ruled the Aztecs when Columbus landed in the New World.

The find could provide an extraordinary window into Aztec civilization at its peak.

Accounts written by Spanish priests suggest the area was used by the Aztecs to cremate and bury their rulers.

Archaeologists told The Associated Press that they have located what appears to be a six-foot-by-six-foot entryway into the tomb about 15 feet below ground.

"It's a totally new situation for us, and we don't know exactly what it will be like down there."

As early as this fall, they hope to...discover the ashes of Ahuizotl, who was likely cremated on a funeral pyre in 1502.

[T]he archaeologists are literally digging into the unknown. Radar indicates the tomb has up to four chambers, and scientists think they will find a constellation of elaborate offerings to the gods on the floor.

"He must have been buried with solemn ceremony and rich offerings, like vases, ornaments ... and certainly some objects he personally used," said Luis Alberto Martos, director of archaeological studies at Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History.

"Our hypothesis is precisely that this is probably the tomb of Ahuizotl," Lopez Lujan said.

Any artifacts linked to Ahuizotl would bring tremendous pride to Mexico [and, uh, certain scientists].

"Imagine it — this wasn't just any high-ranking man. The Aztecs were the most powerful society of their time before the arrival of the Spaniards," Martos said. "That's why Ahuizotl's tomb down there is so important."




I love these guys. They're scientists and rabidly insist on the rabble bowing with solemn dignity out of respect for their factual investigations, but they're just like any other kid on Christmas morning wildly speculating and spinning cherished hope like fact. Science is the same as any other human (misad)venture except that it gets more respectful press.

This is just another case Mexicans doing a job that Americans don't have the time to do.

[FastCoyote]

“Depicted as a woman with huge claws and a stream of blood flowing into her mouth as she squats to give birth, Tlaltecuhtli was believed to devour the dead and then give them new life.”

Hillary, is that you?

[Lurker]

GGG ping

[blam]

Marvin Harris (Bless his soul) believes that all the killing and sacrifice of humans was about protein...food. There weren't large land animals for food or beast of burden and may be the reason they never employed the wheel for carts, wagons and etc.

He said there was a whole industry that butchered the human victims of sacrifice and even a distribution network for the human meat.

[gcruse]

“History tells us empires always fall to invading forces because they had become weak,...”

History also say, “Never say always.”

The Aztecs couldn’t be invaded sooner because, well, the invaders couldn’t get there. Not every civilization deserves its fate.

Looking at what we know today, one wonders why aboriginal North Americans were such underacheivers compared to Meso-America. Aside from Anasazi’s Chaco Canyon, a few totem poles, and some dirt mounds, what did they accomplish?

[Campion]

History tells us empires always fall to invading forces because they had become weak, lazy, and suffering from a decaying social order that made them strong in the first place.

Well, yeah, but don't forget that, in this case, the "invading forces" had guns and horses, and the empire had neither.

Also, the Aztecs were warlike and aggressive, and had made lots of enemies among the other Mexican tribes, causing them to ally with the Spanish.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks TigerLikesRooster and Lurker.

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. Thanks.

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[blam]

A scene interpreted as cannibalism in the Codex Magliabechiano folio 73r

[colorado tanker]

He said there was a whole industry that butchered the human victims of sacrifice and even a distribution network for the human meat.

Soylent Green?

[wildbill]

My God, I checked and it is the same Marvin Harris that I studied under at Columbia.

By the way, the codex in post 17 seems clear enough to me with body parts in cook pots.

But whether the cannibalism was religious ritual or from a need for protein is problematical. I suspect the latter was reinforced by the former.

[blam]

"My God, I checked and it is the same Marvin Harris that I studied under at Columbia."

Neat.

I have 2-3 of Marvin's book. He's an interesting writer. His book, Our Kind, is still one of my favorites.