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Article: Who were the Aztecs?
- Article from:
- Calliope
- Article date:
- December 1, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 Carus Publishing Co. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Imagine digging a trench for new telephone lines and finding a large ancient stone (inset page 5) carved with an elaborate design (see drawing at right). That is exactly what happened in 1978 when workers in downtown Mexico City were preparing to install new cables.
Most Mexicans know that buried under the streets of their capital are the ruins of the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan. So, archaeologists were called in immediately. Great care was taken to uncover the entire stone, which weighed several tons and measured 10.66 feet across. The carvings show a gruesome scene--a woman whose head, arms, and legs had been separated from her body. The archaeologists recognized ...