New Aztec history facts

Mar 01, 2024

5 memorable archaeological discoveries in Mexico in 2023

[Mexico News Daily] "From pre-Columbian cities to a fossilized flamingo egg, Mexico’s rich and diverse history and varied environmental landscape have made it an exciting year for archaeologists..."

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Jul 27, 2023

Acatitlán: The Mexica-Aztec city of the mighty war god

[Yucatán Magazine] Acatitlán, formally known as Santa Cecilia Acatitlán, is an archaeolgocial site near the Chichimec stronghold of Tenayuca in Tlalnepantla de Baz, Mexico state...

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Jun 06, 2023

Horse-riding side saddle escaramuzas keep centuries-old Mexican sport alive in south suburbs

[ABC] Mexico's oldest sport is charrería. "It's considered the national sport - everyone thinks it's soccer but it's charrería," said Vereniz Llamas...

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May 03, 2023

Four Aztec Burials Found in Mexico

[Smithsonian] Archaeologists have found the graves of four children dating to between 1521 and 1620, all buried in accordance with pre-Hispanic practices, according to a statement from Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History...

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Apr 06, 2023

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Achiote

[Eater] The vibrant, reddish-brown color of achiote turns any number of dishes into a feast for the eyes. It gives cochinita pibil its visual wow factor, and is the secret ingredient behind every irresistible spit of al pastor. With origins that reportedly date back a few millennia, achiote can now be found in various forms ranging from dried seeds to fragrant pastes. With the help of a little achiote, you can dye grilled fish a beautiful ruby red or add a splash of color to a pot of rice. And while achiote is often associated with Mexican cooking, it can be found in various cuisines across the globe. Earthy, tangy, and wonderfully colorful, it’s an ingredient that belongs in the spotlight...

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Mar 14, 2023

The empire the Aztecs couldn't conquer

[BBC] The P'urhépechas were one of the only indigenous groups in Mexico the Aztecs failed to conquer – but despite that feat, they were nearly lost to history...

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Feb 08, 2023

The 3,400-Year-Old Olmec Colossal Heads Origins

[Discover] In the late 1850s, a farm worker in southern Veracruz, Mexico, was clearing woodland to make way for a cornfield. As he hacked his way through branches and shrubs, he came across a large stone structure that was partially buried...

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Jan 12, 2023

Trove of Starfish Deposited as Offering to Aztec War God Found in Mexico City

[Smithsonian] Archaeologists conducting excavations at the Templo Mayor in Mexico City have found more than 160 starfish deposited as part of an offering to the Aztec war god Huītzilōpōchtli some 700 years ago, reports Kiona N. Smith for Ars Technica. Per a statement from Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), the echinoderms are members of the Nidorellia armata species, which is known as the chocolate chip starfish due to its brown and beige coloring...

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Dec 20, 2022

All About Quelites — A Flavorful and Nutritious Cornerstone of Mexican Cuisine

[kitcn] In Mexico, out of the approximately 23,000 plant varieties, about 500 of them are delicious and nutritious young, tender plants known as quelites. Quelites are some of the most ancestral and endemic bedrock ingredients of Mesoamerica cuisine and are even referenced in the 16th century Florentine Codex...

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Nov 10, 2022

Mexican Archaeologists Find Over 2,500 Rare Wooden Aztec Artifacts!

[Ancient Origins] Archaeologists in Mexico have unearthed one of the largest and most impressive collections of Aztec artifacts ever found, just northeast of the central plaza of Mexico City. This incredible Aztec artifact treasure trove includes more than 2,500 wooden items of all shapes, sizes, and uses, plus many other artifacts that were left behind by residents of the Aztec Empire’s capital city of Tenochtitlan...

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Oct 28, 2022

The History of Salsa

[The Nibble] Salsa, which has been America’s favorite condiment since 2000—supplanting ketchup—actually has been a favorite condiment for thousands of years. The chile has been domesticated since about 5200 B.C.E., and tomatoes by 3000 B.C.E. both in Central America. The two were combined into a condiment, which the Conquistadors named “salsa,” or sauce. The spicy sauce gave name to a hot and spicy late 20th century dance related to the mambo...but that’s just the tail end of the story...

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Oct 04, 2022

Remains of Aztec dwelling and floating gardens unearthed in Mexico City

[Live Science] Archaeologists have uncovered the ruins of a dwelling that was built up to 800 years ago during the Aztec Empire in the Centro neighborhood of Mexico City, Mexico, during works to modernize the area...

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Sep 21, 2022

Archaeologists uncover post-conquest Aztec altar in Mexico City

[Reuters] Sometime after Hernan Cortes conquered the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan in modern-day Mexico City in 1521, an indigenous household that survived the bloody Spanish invasion arranged an altar including incense and a pot with human ashes...

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Sep 16, 2022

New comic book chronicles the fall of the Aztec Empire

[Yucatán Magazine] A new line of comics titled “Aztec Empire” brings to the page in stunning color an account of the fall of this great civilization...

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Feb 12, 2022

Maya and Aztec Chocolate History and Antecedents

[Electrum Magazine] Chocolate is perhaps one of the most intriguing foods in history, prized for thousands of years and now a global passion. Possibly originating in the understory Amazon rain forest, the small tree sought out by monkeys and other animals has produced a substance that has become a staple of civilization worldwide. Ethnobotanists since Linnaeus  – obviously an enthusiast – identify this plant as Theobroma cacao, “food of the gods” and the product is otherwise known as chocolate; even this word causes a psychological craving among chocoholics much as cacao has for at least 4,000 years...

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Jan 03, 2022

Top 7 Unique Activities in Mexico City

[Travel Off Path] Mexico City is the main political, economic, cultural, and educational center in the country. It has experienced hundreds of historical events and is a tourist destination visited by travelers worldwide...

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Dec 14, 2021

How the Aztec Empire Was Forged Through a Triple Alliance

[History] The Aztec Empire was a shifting and fragile alliance of three principle city-states. The largest and most powerful among the three was Tenochtitlán, the island city built by the Mexica people, also known as the Aztecs. The Aztec Triple Alliance exerted tremendous power over a wide swath of central Mexico for just shy of 100 years (1420s to 1521) before falling to Spanish conquistadors led by Hernán Cortés...

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Nov 19, 2021

The Aztecs: Lost Civilizations

A new book representing a lifetime of research. In The Aztecs, Frances F. Berdan connects history with the Aztec culture which still survives - and you'll learn that tepozmecaixtlatiltlahcuilloli is the word for email in Nahautl...

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Oct 25, 2021

Archaeologists Unearth 600-Year-Old Golden Eagle Sculpture at Aztec Temple

[Smithsonian Magazine] The eagle—carved out of tezontle, a reddish volcanic rock commonly used in both pre-Hispanic and modern Mexico—measures 41.7 by 27.6 inches, making it the largest bas-relief (or low relief) work found at the pyramid-shaped temple to date...

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Sep 29, 2021

How the Aztec Empire Was Forged Through a Triple Alliance

[History] The Aztec Empire was a shifting and fragile alliance of three principle city-states. The largest and most powerful among the three was Tenochtitlán, the island city built by the Mexica people, also known as the Aztecs. The Aztec Triple Alliance exerted tremendous power over a wide swath of central Mexico for just shy of 100 years (1420s to 1521) before falling to Spanish conquistadors led by Hernán Cortés...

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Aug 23, 2021

Flowers and songs: Aztec poetry

[The Sopris Sun] The Aztecs had a long literary tradition, with poetic works long before England had its Shakespeare or Spain its Cervantes. From the little that was saved from the destruction, we know of poets like Tlaltecatzin, Cuacuauhtzin, Nezahualpilli, Cacamatzin, and Nezahualcóyotl...

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Jul 14, 2021

What can the Aztecs tell us about themselves? The secrets of their ‘indigenous annals’

[History Extra] Views of the indigenous people of central Mexico have long been shaped by accounts written by Spanish invaders and colonial settlers – but, as Camilla Townsend explains, if we focus instead on the Aztecs’ own records, a very different picture emerges...

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Jun 03, 2021

Mexico raids building project next to Teotihuacán pyramids

[Associated Press] Mexico sent in 250 National Guard troops and 60 police officers Monday to seize land next to the pre-Hispanic ruins of Teotihuacán where authorities have said bulldozers were destroying outlying parts of the archeological site...

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Apr 12, 2021

Zaachila Ruins

[Atlas Oscura] You can explore the halls of tombs in the abandoned former capital of the Zapotecs...

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Mar 14, 2021

Bunnies helped a great civilisation in ancient Mexico thrive

[NewScientist] The trade in bunnies helped power an ancient economy. Teotihuacan, an ancient city in central Mexico, was an advanced metropolis where most people lived in apartment complexes. The city reached its peak between the first century and 550 AD. With about 100,000 residents, it was the largest urban area in the Americas at the time, of a similar scale and sophistication as other ancient centres like Alexandria and Rome...

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Feb 18, 2021

Mexico is Hiding The World’s Largest Pyramid

[Daily Beast] In the city of Cholula in central Mexico there stands a hill with a giant church on top which hides a manmade pyramid filled with secrets...

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Jan 19, 2021

Archeologists discover ancient Mayan palace in eastern Mexico

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Archeologists have discovered a large palace likely used by the Mayan elite more than 1,000 years ago in the ancient city of Kuluba, near the modern day tourist hot spot of Cancun in eastern Mexico, Mexican anthropology officials said...

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Dec 10, 2020

Aztec ballgame returns to Mexico City after 500 years

[AFP] Five centuries ago, newly arrived in what is now Mexico, the Spanish conquistadors banned an indigenous game involving a heavy ball, circular stone goals and human sacrifice.

Now, a group of young players are bringing the game back to life for the first time in Mexico City -- without the human sacrifice -- at the site of an old garbage dump.

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Nov 24, 2020

Temple of Santiago Tlatelolco's Stones

[Atlas Obscura] Take a close look at the stones of the Temple of Santiago Tlatelolco, and you’ll notice they reveal episodes from Mexico’s past. The 16th-century church was constructed with material from the destroyed pyramids of Tlatelolco. The pilfered stones were not randomly placed...

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Oct 20, 2020

Ancient Aztec Temazcal uncovered by archaeologists in Mexico City’s La Merced

[Yucatan Times] An ancient Native Aztec sauna, dating back to the 14th Century, has been uncovered by archaeologists in Mexico City.

Central components of the sweat lodge where the tub or steam bath pool was located are still intact, according to Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History...

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