Thomas Kole has done remarkable work reconstructing Tenochtitlán with digital images. Scroll down the page to see comparisons between the old city and modern Mexico City.
[LiveScience] "Archaeologists in Mexico City have unearthed a collection of stone figurines depicting humans — carvings that the Aztecs likely used as offerings."
[Miami Herald] "Hundreds of years ago, during the height of the Mayans’ rule in Guatemala, someone was buried in a huge tomb filled with 'extraordinary' and 'rare' offerings..."
[Atlas Oscura] "Underneath the historic center of Mexico City, the remains of a temple dedicated to the Aztec god of the wind..."
[Science News] "Adrian Chase already had a growing sense that Maya society wasn’t quite what it’s been traditionally portrayed as: powerful rulers reigning while powerless commoners obeyed — or perhaps lived far enough from seats of power to operate largely on their own. Work by Chase and others had started to create a picture of a more politically complex society..."
Continue reading "Ancient Maya power brokers lived in neighborhoods, not just palaces"
[BBC] "Archaeologists in Mexico have uncovered an intricately carved stone they believe was used as a scoreboard for pelota, a ball game played by the Maya hundreds of years ago..."
Continue reading "Chichen Itza: Archaeologists discover scoreboard for ancient Maya ball game"
[BBC] "Archaeologists have discovered a wooden Maya canoe in southern Mexico, believed to be over 1,000 years old..."
Continue reading "Ancient wooden Maya canoe unearthed almost intact in Mexico"
An "Aztec death whistle" - is this the scariest sound in the world? What was it used for? Let's look at the science...
[BBC] "Archaeologists in Mexico have discovered the remains of an ancient Maya city deep in the jungle of the Yucatán Peninsula..."
Continue reading "Maya civilisation: Archaeologists find ancient city in jungle"
[Mexico News Daily] "From pre-Columbian cities to a fossilized flamingo egg, Mexico’s rich and diverse history and varied environmental landscape have made it an exciting year for archaeologists..."
Continue reading "5 memorable archaeological discoveries in Mexico in 2023"
[Yucatán Magazine] Acatitlán, formally known as Santa Cecilia Acatitlán, is an archaeolgocial site near the Chichimec stronghold of Tenayuca in Tlalnepantla de Baz, Mexico state...
Continue reading "Acatitlán: The Mexica-Aztec city of the mighty war god"
[ABC] Mexico's oldest sport is charrería. "It's considered the national sport - everyone thinks it's soccer but it's charrería," said Vereniz Llamas...
[Smithsonian] Archaeologists have found the graves of four children dating to between 1521 and 1620, all buried in accordance with pre-Hispanic practices, according to a statement from Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History...
[Eater] The vibrant, reddish-brown color of achiote turns any number of dishes into a feast for the eyes. It gives cochinita pibil its visual wow factor, and is the secret ingredient behind every irresistible spit of al pastor. With origins that reportedly date back a few millennia, achiote can now be found in various forms ranging from dried seeds to fragrant pastes. With the help of a little achiote, you can dye grilled fish a beautiful ruby red or add a splash of color to a pot of rice. And while achiote is often associated with Mexican cooking, it can be found in various cuisines across the globe. Earthy, tangy, and wonderfully colorful, it’s an ingredient that belongs in the spotlight...
Continue reading "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Achiote"
[BBC] The P'urhépechas were one of the only indigenous groups in Mexico the Aztecs failed to conquer – but despite that feat, they were nearly lost to history...
[Discover] In the late 1850s, a farm worker in southern Veracruz, Mexico, was clearing woodland to make way for a cornfield. As he hacked his way through branches and shrubs, he came across a large stone structure that was partially buried...
Continue reading "The 3,400-Year-Old Olmec Colossal Heads Origins"
[Smithsonian] Archaeologists conducting excavations at the Templo Mayor in Mexico City have found more than 160 starfish deposited as part of an offering to the Aztec war god Huītzilōpōchtli some 700 years ago, reports Kiona N. Smith for Ars Technica. Per a statement from Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), the echinoderms are members of the Nidorellia armata species, which is known as the chocolate chip starfish due to its brown and beige coloring...
Continue reading "Trove of Starfish Deposited as Offering to Aztec War God Found in Mexico City"
[kitcn] In Mexico, out of the approximately 23,000 plant varieties, about 500 of them are delicious and nutritious young, tender plants known as quelites. Quelites are some of the most ancestral and endemic bedrock ingredients of Mesoamerica cuisine and are even referenced in the 16th century Florentine Codex...
Continue reading "All About Quelites — A Flavorful and Nutritious Cornerstone of Mexican Cuisine"
[Ancient Origins] Archaeologists in Mexico have unearthed one of the largest and most impressive collections of Aztec artifacts ever found, just northeast of the central plaza of Mexico City. This incredible Aztec artifact treasure trove includes more than 2,500 wooden items of all shapes, sizes, and uses, plus many other artifacts that were left behind by residents of the Aztec Empire’s capital city of Tenochtitlan...
Continue reading "Mexican Archaeologists Find Over 2,500 Rare Wooden Aztec Artifacts!"
[The Nibble] Salsa, which has been America’s favorite condiment since 2000—supplanting ketchup—actually has been a favorite condiment for thousands of years. The chile has been domesticated since about 5200 B.C.E., and tomatoes by 3000 B.C.E. both in Central America. The two were combined into a condiment, which the Conquistadors named “salsa,” or sauce. The spicy sauce gave name to a hot and spicy late 20th century dance related to the mambo...but that’s just the tail end of the story...
[Live Science] Archaeologists have uncovered the ruins of a dwelling that was built up to 800 years ago during the Aztec Empire in the Centro neighborhood of Mexico City, Mexico, during works to modernize the area...
Continue reading "Remains of Aztec dwelling and floating gardens unearthed in Mexico City"
[Reuters] Sometime after Hernan Cortes conquered the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan in modern-day Mexico City in 1521, an indigenous household that survived the bloody Spanish invasion arranged an altar including incense and a pot with human ashes...
Continue reading "Archaeologists uncover post-conquest Aztec altar in Mexico City"
[Yucatán Magazine] A new line of comics titled “Aztec Empire” brings to the page in stunning color an account of the fall of this great civilization...
Continue reading "New comic book chronicles the fall of the Aztec Empire"
[Electrum Magazine] Chocolate is perhaps one of the most intriguing foods in history, prized for thousands of years and now a global passion. Possibly originating in the understory Amazon rain forest, the small tree sought out by monkeys and other animals has produced a substance that has become a staple of civilization worldwide. Ethnobotanists since Linnaeus – obviously an enthusiast – identify this plant as Theobroma cacao, “food of the gods” and the product is otherwise known as chocolate; even this word causes a psychological craving among chocoholics much as cacao has for at least 4,000 years...
Continue reading "Maya and Aztec Chocolate History and Antecedents"
[Travel Off Path] Mexico City is the main political, economic, cultural, and educational center in the country. It has experienced hundreds of historical events and is a tourist destination visited by travelers worldwide...
[History] The Aztec Empire was a shifting and fragile alliance of three principle city-states. The largest and most powerful among the three was Tenochtitlán, the island city built by the Mexica people, also known as the Aztecs. The Aztec Triple Alliance exerted tremendous power over a wide swath of central Mexico for just shy of 100 years (1420s to 1521) before falling to Spanish conquistadors led by Hernán Cortés...
Continue reading "How the Aztec Empire Was Forged Through a Triple Alliance"
A new book representing a lifetime of research. In The Aztecs, Frances F. Berdan connects history with the Aztec culture which still survives - and you'll learn that tepozmecaixtlatiltlahcuilloli is the word for email in Nahautl...
[Smithsonian Magazine] The eagle—carved out of tezontle, a reddish volcanic rock commonly used in both pre-Hispanic and modern Mexico—measures 41.7 by 27.6 inches, making it the largest bas-relief (or low relief) work found at the pyramid-shaped temple to date...
Continue reading "Archaeologists Unearth 600-Year-Old Golden Eagle Sculpture at Aztec Temple"
[History] The Aztec Empire was a shifting and fragile alliance of three principle city-states. The largest and most powerful among the three was Tenochtitlán, the island city built by the Mexica people, also known as the Aztecs. The Aztec Triple Alliance exerted tremendous power over a wide swath of central Mexico for just shy of 100 years (1420s to 1521) before falling to Spanish conquistadors led by Hernán Cortés...
Continue reading "How the Aztec Empire Was Forged Through a Triple Alliance"
[The Sopris Sun] The Aztecs had a long literary tradition, with poetic works long before England had its Shakespeare or Spain its Cervantes. From the little that was saved from the destruction, we know of poets like Tlaltecatzin, Cuacuauhtzin, Nezahualpilli, Cacamatzin, and Nezahualcóyotl...