Archaeologists in Mexico found nearly 200 animal remains beneath the Moon Pyramid in Teotihuacán, shedding new light on the ritual sacrifices central to the ancient civilization's religious practices. The discovery was part of a study led by anthropologist Nawa Sugiyama, who details her findings in her book Animal Matter: Ritual, Place, and Sovereignty at the Moon Pyramid of Teotihuacán, according to Popular Science.
Teotihuacán, located about 30 miles northeast of modern-day Mexico City, thrived between 100 BCE and 650 CE, more than a millennium before the Aztec civilization settled in the region. At its peak, the city was home to an estimated 100,000 people, serving as one of the first megacities in the Western Hemisphere and a powerful cultural and religious hub in Mesoamerica. Today, Teotihuacán is a UNESCO World Heritage site and remains a cornerstone of Mesoamerican history.
Sugiyama's team discovered four dedicatory chambers beneath the Moon Pyramid, including one known as Burial 6, believed to be one of the most abundant cases of mass animal sacrifice ever found in Teotihuacán. The chamber measured approximately 16 feet by 14 feet and contained the remains of 12 humans and over 100 animals, comparable only to those conducted by the Aztec Empire over 1,000 years later.
Among the species found were golden eagles, Mexican gray wolves, jaguars, pumas, hawks, owls, falcons, and rattlesnakes. The discovery of 18 golden eagles in Burial 6 is particularly noteworthy. According to Popular Science, the 18 golden eagles represent one for each of the 18 months in Teotihuacán's 365-day calendar, symbolizing power and held in high regard. Golden eagles are still incorporated in national customs in Mexico today.
"That's really interesting from the zooarchaeology standpoint because there's a fundamental shift in the ways we know Indigenous communities understood these potent apex predators as active agents and mediators of the sky realm, the earth, and the underworld," said Sugiyama, assistant professor of anthropology at UC Riverside. "They were also in conversation with and interacting, sometimes in very dangerous ways, with the human communities that were trying to make connections to—and have power over—these natural sources of power themselves."
The sacrifices in Teotihuacán were government-sanctioned ritual performances conducted at the heart of the Moon Pyramid, reflecting beliefs in gods who governed the destinies of the city and its people. Researchers examined the remains using scientific methods, uncovering details such as the animals' ages, diets, and whether they were sacrificed alive or after death. One common denominator found in the animals' diet was maize, or corn, which served as the primary staple food for both animals and humans in Mesoamerica, reinforcing its significance in religious ceremonies.
Many Mesoamerican civilizations believed humans were created from maize, and the prominence of maize in the diets of sacrificial animals emphasizes its cultural and religious importance. "We are able to see the matter in which ancient Teotihuacanos materialized, felt, heard, created space, and understood their cosmos directly through the messages that are provided to us archaeologists through the material remains of the bones that are speaking to us 2,000 years later," said Sugiyama.
The team believes that the dedicatory chamber must have once been a State spectacle potentially witnessed by thousands of people. Sugiyama envisions officials carrying the golden eagles—alive and in captivity—on their forearm or shoulder along the Avenue of the Dead, Teotihuacán's main ceremonial corridor, leading to the Moon Pyramid.
The article was written with the assistance of a news analysis system.