A tower of human skulls excavated in Mexico

More than 650 skulls were found in Mexico City, not far from the place where, before the arrival of the Spaniards, there was the ancient temple Templo Mayor, also known as the pyramid of the Aztec sun god and the war of Huitzilopochtli. From the skulls, a structure six meters in diameter was obtained. According to scientists, before being placed in the tower, the heads separated from the bodies were exhibited at the zompantli - special stands that existed in a number of Mesoamerican civilizations.

The legend of the tower of human remains for several centuries terrified Mexicans, but there was no direct evidence of its existence to the present day.

But even today, historians admit that some of the old ideas about the Aztec culture will have to be abandoned. According to legends, the skulls of the enemies defeated in battle were folded into the towers, and not only male but also female and child remains were found in the discovered column. This led to the conclusion that the found fragments of bodies could belong to people sacrificed to the gods.

According to the surviving descriptions of the Spanish conquistador Andres de la Tapia, who participated in the conquest of Mexico together with the troops of Ernan Cortes, the tower consisted of tens of thousands of skulls. At present, only 676 people have been found, but scientists say that the excavations are not over and new discoveries are expected in the future. The researchers suggest that the found tower is only part of a massive complex of such structures.

The Spaniards, led by Cortes, landed on the east coast of Mexico in 1519. Two years later they succeeded in destroying the capital of the Aztecs, the city of Tenochtitlan, on the site of which modern Mexico had grown up.