Mexico digs up Aztec sacrificial stone
Mexican archaeologists have dug past phone lines, electricity cables and a traffic light under chaotic city streets to excavate a large sculptured stone that was part of an Aztec sacrificial temple.
The Templo Mayor museum said on Friday the stone, dating from the 15th or 16th centuries and shaped like a round “biznaga” cactus, was discovered last October in the centre of Mexico City.
It took 10 months to receive permission from a telephone company, a electricity utility, city hall and archaeological authorities to dig under the road to reach the stone, which is 77cm high and 56cm in diameter.
The Aztecs, conquered by the Spanish in the early 16th century, would sacrifice victims, often prisoners of war, by cutting their hearts out to placate angry gods.
More: stuff.co.nz
Mexico digs up Aztec sacrificial stone
Mexican archeologists have dug past phone lines, electricity cables and a traffic light under chaotic city streets to excavate a large sculptured stone that was part of an Aztec sacrificial temple.
The Templo Mayor museum said on Friday the stone, dating from the 15th or 16th centuries and shaped like a round "biznaga" cactus, was discovered last October in the center of Mexico City.
It took 10 months to receive permission from a telephone company, a electricity utility, city hall and archeological authorities to dig under the road to reach the stone, which is 77cm high
Templo Mayor and Museo del Templo Mayor (Great Temple)
Inaugurated on October 12, 1987, this site museum preserves, exhibits and publicizes information on archaeological materials excavated over the course of several seasons of work conducted by the Templo Mayor Project, from 1978 to the present. Templo Mayor (Great Temple) was the principal temple of the Aztecs, believed to mark the centre of the universe. It was part of the sacred complex of the ancient city of Tenochtitlán, and today it has been excavated to show the multiple layers of construction, viewed from a raised walkway with explanatory material available. The
Baker Receives Gulf of Mexico Contract From Stone Energy Corporation
Baker Energy, a unit of Michael Baker Corporation (Amex: BKR), announced today it has been awarded a two-year, multimillion dollar contract from Stone Energy Corporation for the provision of more than 50 operations and maintenance (O&M) labor personnel for Stone Energy's state and inland waters operations, offshore Louisiana in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.
Under the terms of this contract, which took effect on Jan. 1, 2006, Baker will manage the transition of the existing workforce, enhance future recruiting activities, conduct competency-based assessments of the workforce, and provide Health, Safety, Environmental
Schwarzenegger: Border fence with Mexico is return to the Stone Age
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has come out strongly against tough immigration proposals Monday, including the construction of a fence along the border with Mexico - an idea he called going back to the Stone Ages.
I think that it will be ludicrous to limit yourself to just building a wall, Schwarzenegger said in an interview with US television network ABC. Were going back to the Stone Ages here.
We are landing men on the moon and in outer space using all these great things. I think that other technology really
Building materials
A surprising aspect of the great Maya structures is their lack of many advanced technologies that would seem to be necessary for such constructions. Lacking metal tools, pulleys and perhaps even the wheel, Maya architecture required one thing in abundance: manpower. Yet, beyond this enormous requirement, the remaining materials seem to have been readily available. All stone for Maya structures appears to have been taken from local quarries; most often this was limestone which, while being quarried remained pliable enough to be worked with stone tools ... only hardening once removed from its bed. In addition to the structural
Cholula is a small city in the state of Puebla, Mexico. The legal, though little used, full name of the city is Cholula de Rivadavia. The city of Cholula is divided into two municipalities, San Andrés Choula and San Pedro Cholula. Both of them are considered to be part of the conurbation of the city of Puebla.
Cholula is located at 19°6′ N 98°31′ W, about 15 km west of the city of Puebla, at an approximate elevation of 2135 meters (about 7000 ft) above sea level. The population of San Pedro Cholula is somewhat less than 100,000 people, and the
Cuernavaca is the capital city of the state of Morelos in Mexico. The city is also the municipal seat of the municipality of Cuernavaca.
Cuernavaca is known as "the city of eternal spring" because of its consistent 27°C year-round weather. This city has always been a popular vacation destination for people from the Mexico City valley, from the Aztec kings, to the Spaniards and now the rich and famous.
This condition has added historical value to the city. Here you can find examples of ancient Aztec and Teotihuacano cultures and of colonial buildings such as the Palacio de Cortés. Cuernavaca has historical
Building process
All evidence seems to suggest that most stone buildings existed on top of a platform sub-structure that varied in height from less than a meter, in the case of terraces and smaller structures, to 45 meters in the case of great temples and pyramids.The huge ceremonial esplanade in Tikal contains three big platforms, and over them rest the pyramidal buildings so common in the ancient Maya cities.
Decoration in relief, molded in stucco, reached a high degree of perfection in Palenque. Stucco was a very fine paste made of lime with a bit of sand in it, which was in
Xalapa, sometimes spelled Jalapa, is the capital city of the Mexican state of Veracruz. In the year 2000 census, it reported a population of 390,058.
The municipal seat of the municipality of Xalapa is the city of Xalapa de EnrÃquez; in everyday usage, however, the city is generally referred to by the shorter name Xalapa.
Its name comes from the Nahuatl roots "Xallapan" which means "spring in the sand." The Totonacas were the first peoples who established around "Macuiltepetl" hill. During the 14th century, four cultures established in the territory today known as Xalapa. Each of them build a small village: Xallitic
Maya hieroglyphics
The Maya writing system (often called hieroglyphics from a vague superficial resemblance to the Ancient Egyptian writing, to which it is not related) was a combination of phonetic symbols and logograms. It is the only known writing system of the Pre-Columbian New World which can completely represent spoken language to the same degree as the written language of the old world.
The decipherment of the Maya writings has been a long laborous process. Bits of it were first deciphered in the late 19th and early 20th century (mostly the parts having to do with numbers, the calendar, and astronomy), but
