Item found among human skulls sheds new light on ancient civilisation: ‘Only one in the world'
Mystery surrounds an ancient 'scythe' or 'blade' discovered at a ceremonial offering site between two human skulls. The dark-green tool is one of almost 800 important artefacts from the Aztec Empire that archaeologist Diego Matadamas-Gomora has studied, and yet it's this one that stands out as unique.
While associations between the scythe and the Grim Reaper gathering the souls of the dead date back to the fourteenth century in Europe, it's believed the object found inside Templo Mayor in modern-day Mexico City developed independently, despite its similar shape.
'Because it was located very close to these human skulls, it's probably something related to the dead or the underworld,' Matadamas-Gomora told Yahoo News Australia.
'There's only one in the entire world so far, and I'm very intrigued. It's beautiful and complex, and making it required a lot of specialisation. This artefact is not sharp, you can't cut anything with it, so it's a symbol. We call it a scythe for comparison, but we don't know what it is.'
An indentation at the end of the 10cm-long miniature indicates the scythe once fastened onto a handle that's long since disappeared. It was crafted from material collected in the city of Pachuca, around 90km north of the city.
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Tulane University PhD candidate Matadamas-Gomora led an international team that included Mexico's Templo Mayor Project and the National Institute of Anthropology and History. Together they investigated changes in Aztec artefacts between 1375 and 1520 CE, including how the strengthening of the empire in 1430 CE impacted what types of materials they used.
The team focused exclusively on obsidian, a type of volcanic glass that was crafted into blades, jewellery and miniature objects that were placed inside graves and offering sites.
'This is the first compositional analysis of such a large sample of artefacts. In previous studies, scholars studied no more than 10 or 15, but we examined 788,' Matadamas-Gomora said.
'First of all, we are providing a large amount of quantitative data for future analysis. And second, we are exploring the use and consumption of obsidian by the Mexicas [the Aztec people] in their capital city, which was the most important city in Mesoamerica in the 16th century, just before the arrival of the Spaniards.'
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Obsidian comes in a multitude of colours and strengths. By understanding where each sample was sourced from using a portable X-ray fluorescence machine, the researchers built a picture of the influence and power of the empire, and where its political alliances and economic trade routes stretched.
'We can explore different questions about how the Aztecs were organised within their city, but also in relation to the entirety of Mesoamerica. But not only in their territory, also beyond their political boundaries,' Matadamas-Gomora said.
As the Mexica consolidated power, the researchers were surprised to learn the rulers didn't maintain a monopoly over prized green Sierra de Pachuca obsidian and instead continued to trade with other cities.
Using eight different types of obsidian — more than any other city — they created objects divided into two main categories — ritual and everyday. The former were often miniature projectile points, sceptres, and clubs that were used to decorate effigies deposited into offering sites.
'The elements combined together to create a representation of a god. For example, if that god was holding a sceptre, it would be made of obsidian,' Matadamas-Gomora said.
'We found the symbol of the God of Wind, which is very common in the offerings. We also found funerary vessels, one of them very important, because it contained the ashes of a human, potentially an early Aztec ruler.'
While items inside the offering sites had been placed with intention, the everyday tools found around their periphery were likely discarded or dropped.
'They were probably deposited during the labour construction by the same people, but used for completely different purposes than the rituals,' Matadamas-Gomora said.
The research was published in the journal PNAS.
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