2,000-year-old flower offerings found under Teotihuacan pyramid in Mexico

[Judi Lynn]

By Owen Jarus about 3 hours ago

The bouquets had survived a bonfire.



A bouquet of flowers found in a tunnel under a Teotihuacan pyramid survived a bonfire about 2,000 years ago. (Image credit: Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH)/Sergio Gómez)

Nearly 2,000 years ago, the ancient people of Teotihuacan wrapped bunches of flowers into beautiful bouquets, laid them beneath a jumble of wood and set the pile ablaze. Now, archaeologists have found the remains of those surprisingly well-preserved flowers in a tunnel snaking beneath a pyramid of the ancient city, located northeast of what is now Mexico City.

The pyramid itself is immense, and would have stood 75 feet (23 meters) tall when it was first built, making it taller than the Sphinx of Giza from ancient Egypt. The Teotihuacan pyramid is part of the "Temple of the Feathered Serpent," which was built in honor of Quetzalcoatl, a serpent god who was worshipped in Mesoamerica.

Archaeologists found the bouquets 59 feet (18 m) below ground in the deepest part of the tunnel, said Sergio Gómez-Chávez, an archaeologist with Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) who is leading the excavation of the tunnel. Numerous pieces of pottery, along with a sculpture depicting Tlaloc, a god associated with rainfall and fertility, were found beside the bouquets, he added.

The bouquets were likely part of rituals, possibly associated with fertility, that Indigenous people performed in the tunnel, Gómez-Chávez told Live Science in a translated email. The team hopes that by determining the identity of the flowers, they can learn more about the rituals.

More:
https://www.livescience.com/flowers-bouquet-ancient-mexico-pyramid.html?utm_source=notification

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https://www.democraticunderground.com/12297391

[Pinback]

1. Incredible find.

Thanks for the post.

[Judi Lynn]

3. It was a big surprise for me, too, since most tales we've been handed describe Aztecs as maniacs! 👺

Thanks, Pinback.

[Zorro]

6. Those people weren't Aztecs

[Judi Lynn]

7. True. I didn't take time to think. I knew Aztecs were the "lucky" ones slaughtered by the Spanish.

The Aztecs would have had no idea who built the pryamids, only migrated there from the North.

[Enoki33]

2. Constantly amazed by the sophistication and

innovation of so called primitive people. The more archeologists discover, the further back the timeline shifts, adding credibility to Graham Hancock's proposal that we are indeed a species with amnesia.

[Judi Lynn]

4. You're so right, Enoki33. The "experts" have been far too quick to assume superiority for Caucasians

from the very first.

So glad you mentioned Graham Hancock, as it reminds me I still haven't set aside time to start reading Graham Hancock, whom I have respected so long. He has seemed brilliant every time his name has appeared, and has a great legacy for people looking more deeply.

No doubt a few years from now we will be "shocked" to learn how much more intelligent people in the deep past actually were! Thanks!

[MuseRider]

5. Love this post!

So amazing, such a find.

[Judi Lynn]

8. It was a total surprise to me, too, MuseRider! So unexpected. Thank you for your comments. 🌸🌷