In Mexican city Teotihuacan, 2,000-year-old tunnel holds ancient mysteries
In Mexican city Teotihuacan, 2,000-year-old tunnel holds ancient mysteries
Hundreds of mysterious golden-coloured orbs were found buried beneath the Feathered Serpent Temple in Mexico in a hidden chamber. Archaeologists of the National Institute of Anthropology and History from Mexico have made the discovery and who admit they have no idea what the spheres are for.
The orbs were found with infrared scanners using the tiny robot called Tláloc II-TC, which scanned the tunnels deeper below the famous temple. They were hidden at the end of a stretch of the 2,000-year-old unexplored tunnel on the site of Teotihuacan, near the Pyramid of the Sun, in a previously unexplored ancient chamber.
Jorge Zavala, an archaeologist on the dig said: ‘They look like yellow spheres, but we do not know their meaning.
It’s an unprecedented discovery.’ The spheres are made of clay and range from 1.5 to 5 inches in circumference.
They get their yellow colour from a material called jarosite. Lead archaeologist Sergio Gomez explained that the spheres appear to be made of metal because jarosite is formed by the oxidation of pyrite, which is a metallic ore also known as Fool’s Gold.
The walls in the chamber were also found to be dusted in pyrite, which gave it an appearance of a gold room.
The archaeologists therefore think that the orbs would have been used by ‘high-ranking people, priests, or even rulers’ to perform rituals within the tunnels. Although, the team admit what part they played in these rituals, and what these rituals meant remain a mystery.
The team from the Mexican Institute have been using the robot for months to explore the tunnels under the celebrated temple, also known as the Temple of Quetzalcoatl.
The temple lies about 37 miles north of Mexico City and the site houses the remains of the pre-Hispanic city of Teotihuacan in the Basin of Mexico.
It is best known for the towering Pyramids of the Moon and the Sun.
Earlier this year, the team and the remote-controlled robot found three unexplored passages.
It was only expected to find one. The discovery of the hidden passages and golden orbs could be highly important.
In 2010 experts said a tomb discovery would be significant because the social structure of Teotihuacan remains a mystery after nearly 100 years of archaeological exploration at the site.
When the civilisation was abandoned, almost 50,000 high-value objects including jade, stone, shell and pottery, such as ceramic beakers, were thrown into the tunnel because it was closed up.
No depiction of a ruler, or the tomb of a monarch, has ever been found, setting the metropolis apart from other pre-Hispanic cultures that deified their rulers.
Vertical excavations begun in 2009 to reach the mouth of the tunnel suggest this was a ruler’s tomb, claims Gomez.
‘I think the tunnel was the central element, the main element around which the rest of the ceremonial center was built,’ Gomez said. ‘This was the most sacred place.’
‘There is a high possibility that in this place, in the central chamber, we can find the remains of those who ruled Teotihuacan,’ he added.