The Ancient Standard

The First Ancient Aztec Tomb Ever Found (ca.1486 – 1502 AD)

By: The Scribe on October, 2007

The Aztec ruler Ahuitzotl was the eighth ruler of the city of Tenochtitlan, and was the primary reason for the Aztec expansion into Mexico and the subsequent consolidation of power in the Aztec Empire. He came to power in the year 7 Rabbit – otherwise known as 1486 AD – and left a legacy as one of the greatest known military leaders in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. And now it appears that his tomb may rest underneath the stones of the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan – which just so happens to be buried underneath Mexico City.

Ground-penetrating radar has revealed that there may be a tomb underneath the temple, sparked by the discovery of a carved stone monolith with the image of an Aztec goddess in 2006. The goddess was carved holding a rabbit with ten dots in her right foot, which is a representation of the year 1502 – or, 10 Rabbit – which was also year that Ahuitzotl died. Initial speculation is that the monolith was the tomb’s headstone, and that the tomb should be somewhere beneath it.

If the tomb of this ruler is actually underneath the temple, it would be the first Aztec royal tomb ever discovered, and would probably provide an enormous amount of information about the Aztecs that remains unknown – for example, very little is known about Aztec religion and iconography. At the very least, there are many examples of Aztec writing, which has allowed historians to piece together the history of these people – and according to these documents, when Ahuitzotl died, there was an enormous ceremony for him before his burial in front of the Great Temple and many grave offerings were buried with him.

Around the carved monolith, archaeologists have found many small artifacts which they believe may actually be the grave offerings for Ahuitzotl. The difficult thing in finding these items is that the Aztec used to place their offerings in very specific spots, according to how they saw the world work – which means that the location of every item is important for determining what the Aztec felt was important in their day-to-day lives.

As for Ahuitzotl, there was a reason he is remembered as one of the greatest military leaders of pre-Columbia Mesoamerica. His first act upon coming to power was to suppress a rebellion by the Huastec people, whereupon he proceeded afterward to more than double the size of territory under Aztec rule. He decimated the Zapotec, conquered the Mixtec, and took over the lands and suppressed hundreds of other tribes all the way from the Pacific Coast of Mexico to the western side of Guatemala.

In the year 8 Reed – or, 1487 – he oversaw the rebuilding of his city Tenochtitlan for the express purpose of making it bigger and better, and he had the Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan expanded… and in some reports, he had 20,000 people sacrificed at its dedication. Ahuitzotl died in the year 10 Rabbit, and was succeeded by Montezuma II, his nephew. For all the work that Ahuitzotl had done in expanding the empire, the Spanish conquistadors would soon arrive on scene in 1519, destroying much of the Aztec empire and eventually suppressing their entire culture.

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Tomorrow: Sometimes fiction makes the best history!