Hundreds of skulls that belong to men, women, and children have been discovered near Templo Mayor in Mexico City where ancient Aztecs used to live. Archaeologist unearthed almost 700 heads which were embedded in lime forming a tower.
It was during the 16th century when Spanish conquistadors numbering to about 400 reached the Aztec capital. Natives welcome them as friends and the visitors were astonished by the local's grandeur including Tenochtitlan people's savage viciousness. The Archaeological Institute of America mentioned that the Spaniards were surprised to discover temples in blood bath where human hearts get burned in containers made of ceramics.
Spanish conquerors took note of the victims as human sacrifices. Their bodies were mutilated and cooked as a stew with tomatoes and chilies. However, the most horrifying scenario that left the Spaniards dumbfounded is the many skulls that are placed on each other in a row. This tower of skulls have been placed in one of the temple's corners for the Aztec's god of the sun, war, and human sacrifice, Huitzilopochtli, The Washington Post reported.
One of Hernán Cortés's soldiers, Andres de Tapia claimed that there are a lot of human skulls and counted 136,000. They concluded that those skulls belonged to the remaining men who were conquered during the battle. The skulls served as ornaments as well as a message that this is what will become of the Aztec enemies. However, the Spaniards were also astonished to find smaller and thinner skulls which could belong to women and children.
According to a biological anthropologist, Rodrigo Bolanos who is investigating the find, "We were expecting just men, obviously, young men, as warriors would be and the thing about the women and children is that you'd think they wouldn't be going to war," The Guardian reported.
It is certain that Aztecs intended to show women and children skulls in public, but who are those people was the big question. Other questions baffle scientists like as to why these skulls were shown off in their place, were they sacrificed, or being overpowered from neighboring communities.
