An excavation at the Aztec site known as the House of Eagles
(located at Templo Mayor in Mexico City) uncovered a funeral
offering that included three very different types of pottery.
The distinct variety among the pottery intrigued the archaeologists.
Small samples from each of the pottery types were sent to MURR
to be analyzed by NAA. The results? The chemical fingerprints
were found to match three entirely different, earlier cultures,
hundreds of years apart! The vessel at the top is a Chalco-Chulula
polychrome (many colored) from about 1300 AD, during the Late
Classic period. The center one is a Teotihuacan-style thin-orange
pot from the Middle Classic period, and dates about 500-600 AD.
The lower specimen resembles a Tohil Plumbate piece, but our
NAA revealed that it is an imitation because it was formed
from clays of the Valley of Mexico and probably was made after
1300 AD. Genuine Tohil Plumbates were made from clays in lower
Mexico and Guatemala during the Early Post Classic period (spanning
about 950-1200 AD). The scientists concluded that the Aztecs
themselves must have excavated these three pieces from sites
relating to those three earlier cultures. This would indicate
that the Aztecs, too, were very interested in archaeology! Photo
courtesy of Leonardo Lopez-Lujan.
To view a larger image of the photo, click here.
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University of Missouri-Columbia
