(ORDO NEWS) — In Mexico, the archaeological mission of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), while carrying out restoration work to strengthen the Great Pyramid of Cholula, discovered previously unknown artifacts that can shed new light on the history of the creation of such monumental structures.
A brief report on the discovery is published on the INAH website. The restorers started their work last December in Escalinata del Pochito.
It was a rescue operation, one of the main tasks of which was to strengthen the crumbling monuments of the pre-Hispanic era. During the restoration work, unexpected but very important archaeological finds were made.
The first of these was made on the east side of the Great Pyramid of Cholula. It turned out to be a large piece of adobe building material.
After studying it, archaeologists came to the conclusion that in front of them is the missing part of the fifth step of the pyramid, which was considered lost. Note that it dates from the end of the classical Mayan period (100 BC – 600 AD).
According to restoration coordinator Catalina Castilla Morales, the find is evidence of the building process used by the ancient inhabitants to expand the pyramid, their main city monument.
“Although we no longer have the façade or the plaster of the sixth step of the pyramid, the new finds shed light on the form the building must have taken,” explains INAH archaeologist Toledo Mendieta.
In addition, an unusually large accumulation of various ceramic material was found on the slope of Tlachiualtepetl or “Handmade Hill”.
The analysis showed that ceramics are objects of the pre-Hispanic period, and they were mainly a kind of braziers.
“The exact age of these objects has not yet been determined,” says Toledo Mendieta. “We don’t know yet whether they had a ritual function or served as pyramidal lights, illuminated the pyramid.
But it is already clear to us that there was an intensive use of fire at this place, and that when one such brazier broke, a new one was put on top of it.
Another important discovery was a 30-centimeter-high cylindrical blank of white stone found right there.
Scientists have established that in the completed version, it should have been a sculpture of Tlaloc, the god of rain.
Cholula is one of the largest pyramids in America in terms of volume, covering an area of 300 by 315 meters.
For comparison, the dimensions of the Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacan are 220 by 230 meters, and the Egyptian Great Pyramid of Giza is 230 by 230 meters.
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