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archaeologist have unearthed a treasure trove of skulls in Mexico that may have once belong to human sacrifice victim . The skull , which date between A.D. 600 and 850 , may also shatter existing notions about the ancient culture of the area .
The discovery , described in the January issue of the diary Latin American Antiquity , was located in an otherwise empty field of view that once hold a vast lake , but was miles from the nearest major city of the sidereal day , say study co - generator Christopher Morehart , an archeologist at Georgia State University .
An artifact depicting Tlaloc, a Pre-Columbian water god, was found at the human sacrifice site at Lake Xaltocan, Mexico.
" It ’s absolutely remarkable to think about this footling nothing on the landscape painting having potentially grounds of the largestmass human sacrificein ancient Meso - America , " Morehart enounce .
mediate of nowhere
Morehart and his colleagues were using satellite imagery to map ancient canal , irrigation channels and lake that used to surround the kingdom ofTeotihuacan(home to the Pyramid of the Sun ) , about 30 miles ( 50 km ) from Mexico City . The immense ancient land flourish from around A.D 200 to 650 , though who built it remains a secret . [ In Photos : Amazing Ruins of the Ancient World ]
In a nowdrained lakecalled Lake Xaltocan , around which was essentially rural farmland at the fourth dimension , Morehart stumble upon a site with evidence of robbery .
When the team look into , they discovered line of human skulls with just one or two vertebra attached . To particular date , more than 150 skull have been fall upon there . The site also contained a shrine withincense burner , water - deity figurine and farming pottery , such as corn cob limning , suggesting a ritual purpose tied to local farming . [ See images from the grisly dig ]
atomic number 6 dating paint a picture that the skull were at least 1,100 years onetime , and the few 12 analyzed so far are mostly from men , Morehart told LiveScience . The researcher did not release photos of the skulls because the sacrifice dupe may have historic ties to modern - day indigenous cultures .
The findings stimulate up existing notions of the civilisation of the day , because the site is not associated with Teotihuacan or other regional big businessman , said Destiny Crider , an archaeologist at Luther College in Iowa , who was not involved in the study .
Human sacrificewas apply throughout the region , both at Teotihuacan and in the later Aztec Empire , but most of those ritual happened at majuscule pyramids within cities and were tie to commonwealth powers .
By contrast , " this one is a big outcome in a little position , " Crider said .
The shrines and the fact that forfeit victims were mostly manful suggest they were carefully chosen , not simply the result of indiscriminate drubbing of a whole Greenwich Village , Crider told LiveScience .
Many research worker believe that monumental drought get the autumn of Teotihuacan and ushered in a period of warfare and political infighting as pocket-size regional powers sprang up , Morehart said .
Those tumultuous times could have spurred advanced — and crashing — practices , Crider said .
" possibly they needed to intensify their activities because everything was changing , " she articulate . " When thing are unsealed you try unexampled scheme . "
