Klingan Posted August 3, 2007 Report Share Posted August 3, 2007 Mexican archaeologists using ground-penetrating radar have detected underground chambers they believe contain the remains of Emperor Ahuizotl, who ruled the Aztecs when Columbus landed in the New World. It would be the first tomb of an Aztec ruler ever found. The find could provide an extraordinary window into Aztec civilization at its apogee. Ahuizotl (ah-WEE-zoh-tuhl), an empire-builder who extended the Aztecs' reach as far as Guatemala, was the last emperor to complete his rule before the Spanish Conquest. Accounts written by Spanish priests suggest the area was used by the Aztecs to cremate and bury their rulers. But no tomb of an Aztec ruler has ever been found, in part because the Spanish conquerors built their own city atop the Aztec's ceremonial center, leaving behind colonial structures too historically valuable to remove for excavations. Read more here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursus Posted August 4, 2007 Report Share Posted August 4, 2007 Very interesting. The Aztecs are the one civilization beyond the Roman & related cultures that interests me. If only I had the time to devote to study them in depth .... but alas, I don't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ASCLEPIADES Posted August 4, 2007 Report Share Posted August 4, 2007 Salve, K & U! This is the "Codex Mendocino" (folio 13), which depicts Ahuizotl (center, left) and his conquests. The 8th tlatoani of Tenochtitlan conquered as far as today Guatemalan highlands; by Mesoamerican standards (barefoot and without wheels nor beasts of burden), he was like the Aztec equivalent of Alexander the Great. Cheers & good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docoflove1974 Posted August 4, 2007 Report Share Posted August 4, 2007 That is incredibly cool, Asclepiades! I have to send that (and the above-linked article) to a friend of mine, who studies Mexican literature and its connections with the Aztecs. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ASCLEPIADES Posted August 4, 2007 Report Share Posted August 4, 2007 That is incredibly cool, Asclepiades! I have to send that (and the above-linked article) to a friend of mine, who studies Mexican literature and its connections with the Aztecs. Thanks! Non est, quod gratias agas, Doc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludovicus Posted August 4, 2007 Report Share Posted August 4, 2007 (edited) Thanks to Klingan for this very interesting post. I lived in Mexico for a while, became fascinated by the Aztecs. A very accessible book on the Aztec view of the Spanish Conquest is "The Broken Spears," Miguel Leon-Portillo, in English. It's required reading for many of the foreign students studying in Mexico. Another very interesting work, tho more challenging, is the excellent "The Conquest of Mexico: The Incorporation of Indian Societies into the Western World, 16Th-18th Centuries" by Serge Gruzinski and Eileen Corrigan. It would be wonderful to see an undisturbed royal Aztec tomb! Edited August 4, 2007 by Ludovicus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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