Archaeologists from the Templo Mayor Project (PTM) in Mexico City have unearthed a large ritual offering including dozens of greenstone figurines, thousands of sea urchins, copper, tar, and commemorative figurines collected in a single ceremony in the mid-15th century.
Greenstone sculptures carved in the Mezcala style from the present-day Guerrero region. The mezcala sculptures were already antiques when they were collected, some of them being over 1000 years old. Archaeologists believe they were cult statues looted by the Mexica when they conquered the Guerrero region. They were brought to the capital as war booty and red and white pigments were applied to reconfigure the statues with the attributes of the god Tlaloc.
The newly discovered offerings, numbered 186, 187 and 189, were found in three stone caskets, known as Tapitlakli. Offer 186 was discovered in 2023, and in the next two recent excavation seasons. The chests, their contents and the date of their collection match three other offerings found in previous excavations. Offerings 18 and 19, discovered in the late 1970s, were found on the west side of the Great Temple pyramid, and Offering 97 was found in 1991 on the north side. These also contained marine elements and 40 greenstone figures in the mezcala style, for a total of 83 greenstone figurines between the six collections.
Templo Mayor’s Phase IV presentation dates to between 1440 and 1469, the regnal year of Moctezuma Ilhuicamina (meaning Archer of the Sky), fifth king of Tenochtitlan and second emperor of the Aztec Empire. When the previous three offerings were found, archaeologists speculated that there may be three more on offerings to the east and south of the pyramid. Which has now been proven true.
In addition to moving objects, the collection also has commemorative sculptures weighing one ton.
It will require complex logistics (ropes, levels, rollers) to move and set up in the temple. The scale of the offerings is so great that the event must have been one of the largest seen in pre-Hispanic Mexico.
Such a large number of mezcala sculptures do not appear in the archaeological record of Templo Mayor before or since. Moctezuma Ilhuicamina was the first king of Tenochtitlan to conquer territories outside the Valley of Mexico. He conquered Tlaxco and Tlaxmalac in Guerrero between 1447 and 1450, which is likely when he returned complete with the spoils of war which was then assembled in a large ceremony before the Templo Mayor with dozens of priests and the entire population of the city.
