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| Tenochtitlan was the city at the centre of the Aztec
Empire. It was founded between 1325 and 1345 and present day Mexico
City was built over it after its conquest by Hernan Cortes in 1519.
The great Aztec temple, Templo Mayor, has now been excavated from beneath
the main square. |
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Human sacrifices were made to emulate the first salvation of the world
where the gods sacrificed themselves in order to set the sun in motion
across the skies. The Aztecs believed that without sacrifices, the
sun would not continue to rise and nothing could be born. It was
only those who died violent or sacrificial deaths (and women who died in
childbirth) who could join the company which surrounded the sun, others
had to go to the underworld. |
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| Sinister statues excavated from Templo Mayor. |
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| This is made from a real human skull. |