Archaeologists have finally penetrated to the center of the Pyramid of the Sun’s maze of ancient tunnels. Amazingly, they’ve uncovered a cache of items that are almost 2,000 years old.
What’s inside the Pyramid of the Sun?
Here’s the latest on this archaeological excavation into the Pyramid of the Sun from History.com.
One of Mexico’s largest and most famous pre-Columbian structures, the Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacan has yet to reveal its many secrets. Archaeologists have unearthed offerings inside a tunnel under the pyramid that likely predate its construction—and may even shed light on its significance.
The trove of offerings uncovered at the core of Teotihuacan’s Pyramid of the Sun includes a mask so lifelike it might have been a portrait. A trove of ceremonial offerings has been discovered at the base of Teotihuacan’s Pyramid of the Sun, archaeologists from Mexico’s National Anthropology and History Institute (INAH) announced yesterday. The items, which include a green stone mask, pieces of pottery and animal bones, might have been part of a consecration ceremony held when workers broke ground on the massive structure more than 1,900 years ago, they said.
Founded by an as-yet-unidentified group around 100 B.C., the ruined city of Teotihuacan features some of the largest pyramids built in the pre-Columbian Americas, along with temples, palaces, apartment-style complexes and remarkably preserved murals. At its height the settlement may have been home to some 200,000 people. By the time the Aztecs discovered the once-thriving hub around 1300, however, it had been abandoned for centuries, perhaps as a result of famine, drought or warfare…