Ancient Mexican rites - secrets found below a Pyramid

Using science to unearth secrets of ancient Mexic

 Ancient Mexican rites - secrets found below a Pyramid

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• The story: More than a decade after archaeologist Sergio Gomez began excavating a tunnel under a towering Mexican pyramid, a massive cache of sacred artifacts carefully placed there by priests some 2,000 years ago was discovered. It included around 8,000 wooden objects - plates, bowls and more - as well as the skulls and claws of some three dozen animal species, especially predators like jaguars and pumas.
• What a record: The volume and variety of objects hidden in the sealed tunnel under "Teotihuacan’s ornate Feathered Serpent Pyramid" has shattered records for discoveries at the ancient city. It was once the most populous metropolis of the Americas, now a top tourist draw just outside modern-day Mexico City.

1. Over 1,00,000 artifacts from the tunnel have been cataloged so far, ranging from finely-carved statues, jewelry, shells, and ceramics as well as thousands of wooden and metallic objects that mostly survived the passage of time intact.
2. It is also the first time an ornament made from amber has turned up in Teotihuacan. Found with a small top and residue inside that awaits further analysis – Gomez speculates it may be tobacco – it likely hung around a priest’s neck.

• Priestly place: As in other ancient Mexican societies, the priests who entered the tunnel likely ingested hallucinogenic plants or mushrooms as part of rituals. The tunnel, which is tall enough in most places to walk through and is around 12 meters (40 ft) underground, was designed to dazzle. The walls and even the floor were coated with fine bits of iron pyrite, popularly known as fool’s gold due to its resemblance to the precious metal. The tunnel was possibly made to recreate the underworld of their cosmovision and used to initiate new rulers.
• Scientific dating: The place was in use for more than two centuries through 250 A.D.Teotihuacan, a wealthy contemporary of ancient Rome and Han China, thrived from about 100 B.C. to 550 A.D. and was home to up to 2,00,000 people mostly living in multi-family stone compounds painted with colorful murals.
• Final discovery: At a place, 17 separate layers of shells are seen meticulously laid down by priests, one on top of the other, with the bottom layers crushed. It appears that ceremonies in the tunnel involved the offering of gifts to the lords of the underworld, and to the city’s main deity, the storm god.

1. Several thousand once-glittering iron pyrite pieces were unearthed. Possibly imported from as far away as Honduras, they include beads, disks and even the bottom half of a cup.
2. Around 8,000 wooden objects – plates, bowls and more – were unearthed, as well as the skulls and claws of some three dozen animal species, especially predators like jaguars and pumas.
3. Beyond traditional restoration work, Gomez’s team is also developing three-dimensional digital recreations of the artifacts as they originally would have appeared, so they can eventually be accessed online.

• EXAM QUESTIONS: (1) Explain how the study of ancient societies helps man find his place in history. (2) What is radio-dating process? How does it work? Explain the various methods.
  

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