Archaeologists in Mexico City Find First Tomb of Aztec Ruler

Archaeologists believe they have made the first discovery of a tomb of an Aztec ruler. Radar equipment suggests the tomb has several chambers and lies 5 meters (15ft) below ground in a major ceremonial site in the heart of Mexico City.

Leonardo López Luján, the lead archaeologist, told Associated Press that his team hoped to be inside the chambers by October, staring at the ashes of Ahuizotl, as well as offerings befitting his status as the last Aztec ruler to die in power.

The team was moving slowly because the entrance is flooded and filled with rocks, forcing the need for pumps to keep the water level down as archaeologists excavate while hanging from slings, he said. He said the conditions may have helped preserve the tomb's contents.

Ahuizotl was cremated on a funeral pyre in 1502, the date on prominent display on a recently discovered huge stone monolith that lies directly above the chambers and sparked the search for them. The monolith is carved with a representation of Tlaltecuhtli, a goddess who the Aztecs believed devoured the dead. Tlaltecuhtli is usually depicted facing into the earth, but in this case she was face up.

Ahuizotl was succeeded by his nephew Montezuma who was taken hostage by the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés, shortly after he landed in Mexico in 1519. Ahuizotl's son, Cuauhtemoc, took over and led the last resistance against the Spaniards before being taken prisoner and killed. The burial places of both Montezuma and Cuauhtemoc are unknown.