Tower of Skulls; The most terrible archeological work of Mexico        

Faradid: The National Institute of Anthropology and History of Mexico (INAH) has announced very interesting news of archaeological discoveries in this country in recent years; Discoveries that have drawn the attention of the people of the world more than ever to the mysterious and mysterious history of the ancient civilizations of Central America.

One of the most interesting and perhaps the most frightening discoveries of these years was the discovery of a 500-year-old tower belonging to the Aztec civilization. The news of this discovery was first announced in 2015, but the search work continued after that, and in the following years, new parts of the tower were brought out from under the ground.

The special and scary thing about this tower is that hundreds of human skulls were used in its construction. In 2020, with new parts of the tower coming out of the ground, the total number of skulls counted in this tower reached 600. Archaeologists believe that this is only one of the seven skull towers that existed in the Aztec capital city of Tenochtitlan. This tower was found next to the ruins of Mayur Temple; A 600-year-old temple dedicated to the Aztec war god Huitzilopochtli and the rain god Tlaloc.

Archaeologists initially thought that all these skulls belonged to adult men who had lost a battle with the Aztecs. But later investigations showed that there are many skulls belonging to women and children. Because of this, researchers think that some of the skulls probably belong to people who were captured and later sacrificed. Archaeologist Barrera Rodríguez says: "However, we know that all these skulls were consecrated; That is, they were offered to the gods as gifts.

According to archaeologists, these skulls were exposed to the public for a while in different parts of the city on smaller ledges before they were placed together in this big tower. But finally, they gather them all together and use lime mortar to put them on top of each other in the form of a large circular building.

According to the Institute of Anthropology and History, "Although this building looks very scary to modern viewers, for the civilizations of Central America it was a sacrificial ritual that kept the gods alive and prevented the world from falling apart. In fact, for them, this building was more a symbol of life than death."

The skull tower has a diameter of about 5 meters and was built in three stages, the beginning of which was probably during the reign of Telatoani Ahuizotel between 1486 and 1502 AD. During the reign of Ahuizotel, the Aztec Empire expanded to the present-day country of Guatemala and around the Gulf of Mexico and reached its greatest extent. According to historical reports, during the reign of this king and on the occasion of the construction of a new temple in the city of Tenochtitlan, about 20 thousand prisoners of war were sacrificed.