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Aztec tower of human skulls uncovered in Mexico City

Archaeologist Lorena Vazquez explains why the Aztecs created their skull towers

Tales of the tower of skulls which struck fear into the hearts of Spanish conquistadors have been passed down through the generations in Mexico.

Said to be the heads of defeated warriors, contemporary accounts describe tens of thousands of skulls looming over the soldiers - a reminder of what would happen if they did not conquer territory.

For the next 500 years, the skulls lay undisturbed underneath what was once the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan, but is now Mexico City.

Until, that is, a group of archaeologists began the painstaking work of uncovering their secrets two years ago.

What they found has shocked them, because in among the skulls of the young men are those of women and children - bringing into question everything historians thought they knew.

Reuters Skulls encased in lime piled neatly togetherReuters
The skulls were first discovered in 2015
Reuters Lorena Vazquez, an archaeologist from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), works at a site where more than 650 skulls caked in lime and thousands of fragments were found in the cylindrical edifice near Templo Mayor, one of the main temples in the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan, which later became Mexico City, Mexico June 30, 2017Reuters
A team of archaeologists has been painstakingly uncovering them ever since

"We were expecting just men, obviously young men, as warriors would be, and the thing about the women and children is that you'd think they wouldn't be going to war," Rodrigo Bolanos, a biological anthropologist investigating the find, told news agency Reuters.

"Something is happening that we have no record of, and this is really new, a first."

So far, archaeologists have found 676 skulls in a site next to Mexico City's Metropolitan Cathedral, which was built over the Templo Mayor, one of the most important Aztec temples.

Reuters Rodrigo Bolanos, a biological anthropologist (R), and Ingrid Trejo, an archaeologist from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INA)Reuters
Historians have been surprised to discover the remains of women and children among the skulls
Reuters The skulls after they have been taken out the site and into the laboratory for analysisReuters
For many years, it has been thought they were the skulls of warriors defeated in battle

Its base has yet to be uncovered, and it is thought many more skulls will be found.

They are believed to form part of the Huey Tzompantli, a skull rack some 60 metres (200ft) in diameter which stood on the corner of the chapel of Huitzilopochtli, the Aztec god of the sun, war and human sacrifice.

Archaeologists have no doubt it is one of the racks, or tzompantli, described by soldier Andres de Tapia, who accompanied Hernan Cortes in the 1521 conquest of Mexico.

Cortes landed at Veracruz, on Mexico's east coast, in 1519. Two years later, allied with other native forces, Cortes' men captured the Aztec capital.

Reuters More skulls creating a wallReuters
So far, more than 650 skulls have been found
Reuters Someone holds a skull in the labratoryReuters
Many more skulls are believed to be hidden underneath the city