Researchers found the skulls and thousands of other bone fragments in a cylindrical building near the Templo Mayor, one of the main temples of the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan, currently known as Mexico City.
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The tower probably forms part of the Huey Tzompantli, a huge exhibition of skulls that should scare away the Spanish conquerors as they invaded the city under the leadership of Hernan Cortes.
© reuters.
Tzompantli literally means "skull wall". Cutting heads of rival warriors were exhibited in many American cultures for the Spanish conquest. However, the latest discovery suggests that it is more than just warriors.
"We just expected men, obviously young men, as warriors would be, and the thing with the women and children is that you would think they did not go to war," said Rodrigo Bolanos, a biologist who investigated the finding.
The tower is about six meters in diameter and stands on the corner of the Huitzilopochtli chapel, the Aztec god of the sun, war and human sacrifices.
So far, 676 skulls have been found, but that number will continue to increase during the further excavations.
Source: Reuters