Archaeology News Online

A sacrificial wolf elaborately adorned with some of the finest Aztec gold ever found and buried more than five centuries ago has come to light in the heart of downtown Mexico City, once home to the Aztec empire's holiest shrines. Gold pieces formed into symbols are seen at a site where a sacrificed young wolf elaborately adorned with some  of the finest Aztec gold has been discovered, adjacent to the Templo Mayor, one of the main Aztec temples,  in Mexico City, Mexico [Credit: Reuters/Henry Romero] The quality and number of golden ornaments is highly unusual and includes 22 complete pieces - such as symbol-laden pendants, a nose ring and a chest plate - all made from thin sheets of the precious metal, lead archaeologist Leonardo Lopez told Reuters. Held in a stone box, the cache was discovered in April near the capital city's bustling main square, the Zocalo, behind the colonial-era Roman Catholic cathedral and off the steps of what was once the most important Aztec ceremonial

Archaeologists in Mexico said Monday they have unearthed what they believe was a dwelling where upper class Aztecs who resisted the Spanish conquest tried to preserve their customs and traditions. Burial at the Aztec site of Colhuacatonco belonging to the time of Spanish contact  [Credit: María de la Luz Escobedo, INAH] The structure, where Aztecs were also buried, is part of an old neighborhood in Mexico City called Colhuacatonco, famous for being a place where the Aztecs resisted the Spanish conquest in the 16th century, the National Institute of Anthropology said in a statement. Human remains at the Aztec site of Colhuacatonco [Credit: María de la Luz Escobedo, INAH] The new find buttresses the argument that Colhuacatonco put up passive resistance after the fall of Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec empire, said Maria de la Luz Escobedo, the archaeologist in charge of the project. INAH archaeologists located a sunken patio and a small ceremonial site [Credit: Meltón Tapia, INAH]