Aztec pyramid found in Mexico could rewrite history

    December 28 -07  
 
    Fifteen years ago, Salvador Guilliem began to study the Major Temple of Tlatelolco, an ancient  pyramid of almost 700 years, with the purpose of writing the real chronology  of its construction and give account of the seven construction stages mentioned by historical resources.
 
After about seven meters of advance in its interior and  finding the seven construction stages, a stair was discovered inside the building which brings doubt to the fundation date of Tlatelolco.
 
“The findings of the stair point to eight construction stages, therefor we would have to define if its foundation was in 1337 or a little before that. [...] But we have to be prudent . Archaeologogy lives on material evidence that must be contundent.

Translated from the original in Spanish by patgarcia.

By Miguel Angel Gutierrez

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Archeologists have discovered the ruins of
an 800-year-old Aztec pyramid in the heart of the Mexican capital that
could show the ancient city is at least a century older than previously
thought.

Mexican archeologists found the ruins, which are about 36 feet (11
metres) high, in the central Tlatelolco area, once a major religious
and political centre for the Aztec elite.

The pyramid, found last month as part of an investigation begun in
August, could have been built in 1100 or 1200, signalling the Aztecs
began to develop their civilization in the mountains of central Mexico
earlier than believed.
 
"We have found the stairs of this,
much older pyramid. The (Aztec) timeline is going to need to be
revised," archaeologist Patricia Ledesma said at the site on Thursday.
 
Tlatelolco,
visited by thousands of tourists for its pre-Hispanic ruins and
colonial-era Spanish church and convent, is also infamous for the 1968
massacre of leftist students by state security forces there, days
before Mexico hosted the Olympic Games.
 
Ledesma and the
archaeological group's coordinator, Salvador Guilliem, said they will
continue to dig and study the area next year to get a better idea of
the pyramid's size and age.

BEIJING, Dec. 28 (Xinhuanet) -- The ruins of an 800-year-old Aztec pyramid discovered in the central Tlatelolco area had updated the foundation time of the Mexico City at least by a century, media reported Friday.
 
    The ancient city, once a major religious and political center for the Aztecs, was thought to be founded in 1325 after the discovery of another pyramid at the site 15 years ago.
 
    "We have found the stairs of this, much older pyramid. The (Aztec) timeline is going to need to be revised," archeologist Patricia Ledesma said.
 
    The newly found pyramid is believed to have been built in 1100 or 1200. The ruin is about 36 feet (11 meters) high, and more studies are still needed for prove the pyramid's size and age.
 
    "What we hope to find soon should tell us much more about the society of Tlatelolco," said Ledesma.
 
    Mexico City is littered with pre-Hispanic ruins.
 
    The Aztecs, a warlike and religious people who built monumental works ruled an empire stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean and encompassing much of modern-day central Mexico.

A team of researchers
from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH)
discovered an 800 year-old pyramid in the main temple of the religious
and political centre of Tlatelolco, known to have been inhabited by the
Mexicas, the Aztec's most powerful group. They also found, a few metres
from the pyramid, a living complex in the city and the five skulls
dating back to the year 1431