Pyramid of The Moon
Posted on 08/05/2005 8:32:05 AM PDT by robowombat
Headless Bodies Found at Mysterious Mexico Pyramid
By Brian Winter MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The discovery of a tomb filled with decapitated bodies suggests Mexico's 2,000 year-old "Pyramid of the Moon" may have been the site of horrifically gory sacrifices, archeologists said on Thursday.
The tomb at Teotihuacan, the first major city built in the Americas, whose origins are one of history's great mysteries, also held the bound carcasses of eagles, dogs and other animals.
"It is hard to believe that the ritual consisted of clean, symbolic performances -- it is most likely that the ceremony created a horrible scene of bloodshed with sacrificed people and animals," said Saburo Sugiyama, one of the scientists leading the ongoing dig.
"Whether the victims and animals were killed at the site or a nearby place, this foundation ritual must have been one of the most terrifying acts recorded archeologically in Mesoamerica."
Of the 12 human bodies found, 10 were decapitated and then tossed, rather than arranged, on one side of the burial site. The two other bodies were richly ornamented with beads and a necklace made of imitation human jaws.
The Aztecs came across Teotihuacan's towering stone pyramids in about 1500 A.D., centuries after the city was torched and abandoned. It is not known what language its inhabitants spoke, but the Aztecs named it "The Place Where Men Become Gods," believing it was a divine site.
A major tourist site, it lies about 35 miles northeast of Mexico City.
After 200 years of excavations, archeologists are still largely in the dark about the origins of the city, which is believed to have housed 200,000 people at its peak in 500 A.D. -- rivaling Shakespeare's London, but a millennium earlier.
Sugiyama said the nearly complete excavation indicates the Pyramid of the Moon was significant to its builders as a site for celebrating state power through ceremony and sacrifice.
The sacrifices were carried out during the expansion of one of the city's major monuments, suggesting the government wanted to symbolize growing sacred political power.
"Contrary to some past interpretation, militarism was apparently central to the city's culture," the excavation team said in a statement.
The master-planned city-state collapsed around 700 A.D., an event as mysterious as its formation.
It was the site of a modern-day controversy earlier this year when protesters fought and lost a battle to keep the Mexican unit of retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc. from building a new store a half-mile away.
© Reuters 2004. All Rights Reserved.
Posted on Friday, December 03
Darn those Spaniards for introducing that vile Christianity and suppressing this wonderful traditional culture.
Hmmmm - some 2000 years ago, when ancient Mexicans were cutting off heads,it was "horrifically gory". Today, when Islamist terrorists do it, it's justified because everyone hates Bush.
but..but...but Native American civilization was superior to Europe's...
What is this, headless Saturday?
As a sensitive, multiculti Seinfeld would add, "...uh, not that there's anything wrong with that..."
Another moon cult beheading people...
Hmmmm
Sheer lunacy.
The "mystery" was probably something rather simple: over-population, famine, perhaps even flood or drought.
Time to get outta Dodge.
The founding was a mystery? I (underlined) don't think so. Or rather it was no more of a mystery than the founding of many places. Why would anyone want to form cities in the artic circle or insect-infested swamps or known barren deserts?
Were they found to have visited the topless bar?
What is the news here?
Various pre-Spanish cultures were notorious for
this sort of thing.
Oh, it's Reuters.
Anything to avoid discussing the Air America scandal,
I guess.
Back in the late 80's, while visiting Chichen Itza, the guide showed us a pit - that used to be some sort of lake or basin (??), I think - and said it was believed to have been the site where "virgins" were sacrificed.
He then said, however, that all the remains recovered were those of young boys. So, the theory is, the rulers were keeping the young women for themselves, but dressing up young boys and pretending to sacrifice the girls by throwing the boys into the pit.
Oh, and then there was that sport - the one where the loser lost his life. Can't remember what that one was called.
IMHO, you're right on the mark with that one.
I heard Hillary was just down there....hmmmm.
It was also considered OK, by that society.....everything is relative.
Ping!
It continues today...
Nazi Germany
Soviet Russia
Communist China
Taliban Afghanistan
Sudan
Pol Pot's Cambodia
The justifications may change, but the murderous ideologies remain.
Who are the new elites? Those with special genetic knowledge. Life is not really all that special if one can abort at will, clone at will and justify the use of any human life for genetic research. Let's bow down to the masters of genetic science who seek to create a Kantian super race. Let's all sacrifice ourselves to the greater good.
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