Archaeology of Mexico City: new studies in the study of the history of the ancient Aztecs

Abstract

The article presents an overview of archaeological discoveries in Mexico City over the past few years. The research, which is carried out primarily by Mexican scientists, is based on both traditional methods of archaeology and the capabilities of modern science, in particular, electroresistive tomography and geophysics. The article uses primary data and their inclusion in the history of archaeological research in Mexico City is still ahead. Despite the preliminary nature of the assessments of these archaeological data, they allow not only to clarify the established ideas based on the many decades of work of archaeologists, but also to take them into account when further studying the past of the Aztecs and their capital Mexico City-Tenochtitlan. The paper presents the materials of recent excavations in the area of the Main Temple (Mexico City proper) and Greater Mexico City (the ancient territory around Lake Texcoco). In the center of Mexico City, archaeologists have discovered the remains of the room in which the Spaniards were, who first found themselves in the Aztec capital, fragments of pre-Hispanic stone basreliefs. It is also a find of the Great (Great) Tsompantli (traditional construction of skulls). The excavations of the Great Cuaushikalco as part of the ritual and sacred space and the ancient objects associated with it can be considered noteworthy. In the Greater Mexico City area, there are ongoing studies of an artificial tunnel, a cave (a symbol of the entrance to the world of the dead) inside the famous pyramid of the Moon in Teotihuacan. Here, on the territory of the ancient valley of Mexico, the study of the Preclassic period of its history continues (archaeological surveys in Zacatenco and Tlalpan with the oldest burials of unusual cone-shaped graves and intentional spiral arrangement of bodies). The post-classical period (the Aztec era) was enriched by excavations of salt mining sites, etc. The article notes that the new archaeological data generally confirm the well-known features of the Aztec society, without justifying, but also without belittling its own importance in world history and culture.