After discovering a hidden tunnel beneath Teotihuacan in Mexico using radar in 2003, researchers from the National University of Mexico unearthed hundreds of ceremonial artifacts at the base of what may be a royal tomb eleven years later. The tunnel entrance was guarded by the remains of hundreds of sacrificial bodies and remained hidden until its discovery. It took years of preparation and fundraising before the researchers finally hit the tunnel entrance in 2010. It appeared that the tunnel had been intentionally closed by the city’s inhabitants, with the entrance covered by rocks more than 40 feet beneath the ground.
The tunnel, which is several hundred feet long, contains symbols that lead to multiple sealed funeral chambers that may contain the bodies of ancient rulers. Using a three-foot robot equipped with mechanical arms and a video camera, archaeologists initially explored the mud and rubble-filled tunnels before cataloguing every bone, seed, and shard of pottery they found as they made their way to the crypts at the end.
According to archaeologist Sergio Gomez of Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History, researchers had been attempting to locate the graves of the rulers of the ancient city for a long time, but their search had been unsuccessful until the discovery of the tunnel in 2003. As excavation of the tunnel continued, Gomez’s team believed they were on the verge of uncovering the long-lost tombs, and if confirmed, it would be one of the most significant archaeological discoveries of the 21st century on a global scale.
Among the discoveries made in the tunnel were finely carved stone sculptures, jewelry, shells, obsidian blades, and arrowheads. Offerings were found outside the entrance of three chambers at the end of the tunnel, suggesting that these are the tombs of the elite. Currently, Sergio Gomez’s team has excavated two feet into the chambers, and further exploration is planned for next year.
The discovery of these tombs could potentially solve long-held mysteries about the civilization that left no written records of its existence, including questions about their governance and whether leadership was hereditary.
“Due to the мagnitude of the offerings that we’ve found, it can’t Ƅe in any other place,” Gomez said Wednesday. “We’ʋe Ƅeen aƄle to confirм all of the hypotheses we’ʋe made from the Ƅeginning.”
At its peak in the мiddle of the first century, Teotihuacan was the largest city in the Aмericas with an estiмated 200,000 inhabitants.
The Aztecs, who arriʋed centuries after Teotihuacan had fallen, gaʋe the city its naмe, which мeans “birthplace of the gods” in English.
Source: https://archaeology-world.coм
