Inside ‘gateway to underworld' underneath 1,800-year-old city which holds ‘toxic' secret that scientists ‘can't explain'
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AN ANCIENT pyramid thought to be a 'gateway to underworld' was discovered to contain a hidden secret.
The historic site, located in an ancient city, is thought to house a supernatural secret.
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Archaeologists have spent decades uncovering the temple
Credit: Reuters
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The discovery is believed to have supernatural connections
Credit: Reuters
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Liquid mercury was discovered at the site in 2015
Credit: Reuters
Quetzalcoatl Temple in Mexico, also known as the Feathered Serpent Pyramid is thought to have been built around 1,800 to 1,900 years ago.
During an excavation project researchers discovered large amounts of liquid mercury in 2015.
Its something experts believe means the structure was used to 'look into the supernatural world.'
They also believe its presence could indicate that a king's tomb or ritual chamber could be lying underneath the ancient city of Teotihuacan.
The pyramid was originally unsealed in 2003, allowing researchers like Dr Sergio Gómez to spend six years excavating the tunnel.
During this excavation, researchers uncovered three chambers at the end of a 300 foot tunnel.
In addition to the liquid mercury, they also found artefacts like jade status, jaguar remains, and a box of carved shells and rubber balls.
The tunnels and adjoining structures lie 60 feet below the temple.
In their 16 years excavating the temple, the research team uncovered over 3,000 ceremonial and ritual artefacts.
They have used their discoveries to create a comprehensive survey of the pyramid and tunnel using LiDAR scanners and photogrammetry.
Liquid mercury is not an uncommon discovery - with Dr Rosemary Joyce saying that archaeologists had found the substance in three other sites around Central America.
Its believed that mercury symbolises an underworld river or lake.
Dr Annabeth Headrick agreed with this interpretation, telling the Guardian that the the qualities of liquid mercury might appear to resemble "an underworld river, not that different from the river Styx.
"Mirrors were considered a way to look into the supernatural world, they were a way to divine what might happen in the future.
"It could be a sort of river, albeit a pretty spectacular one," Dr Headrick added.
The Quetzalcoatl Temple is located around 12 miles northeast of Mexico City in Teotihuacán - the heart of the Mesoamerican Teotihuacan universe.
Around 4.5 million people visit the temple - which is the third largest in the city - every year.
It became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987, and was listed on the World Monuments Watch in 2004 as tourist visitation led to the site's deterioration.
More than a hundred human remains, which may have been sacrificial victims, were found under the structure in the 1980s.
The Aztecs believed it was the place where Gods were created, with sacrifices being made as tributes.
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The Temple is around 1,800 to 1,900 years old
Credit: Getty
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It is the third largest temple in the Teotihuacán region of Mexico
Credit: Getty
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Preventing deaths during a screwworm outbreak requires ranchers to adopt a punishing routine of monitoring every single head of cattle every single day. But as Dove lurched down a bumpy two-track dirt road looking in vain for his scattered cattle, the challenges of locating animals – even 1,000-pound ones – on a sprawling ranch were laid bare. 'You look at this,' Dove said, pointing toward the dense thickets of mesquite, catclaw and prickly pear that mark Texas cattle country. 'Just take a look at that and think about going and getting your cattle out of that when they don't want to be got.' In the meantime, ranchers are preparing for the worst. In May, third-generation West Texas cattle and sheep rancher Warren Cude entered a barn where his dad kept old canisters of screwworm medicine and jars filled with dead screwworms. He added new bottles of wound spray and insecticides to the collection. 'We're repeating history after 50 years. 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