Ancient Wind God Temple Unearthed Beneath The Supermarket

Archaeologists have discovered an ancient wind god temple under the supermarket that was demolished in Mexico City. The structure is dated about 650 years old and measures 1.2 meters (4 feet) tall and 11 meters (36 feet) across.

The structure is part of the temple used to worship Ehecatl-Quetzalcoatl, an Aztec wind god. He is a pre-Columbian deity that is associated with the wind and identified as the Feathered Serpent deity as a god of the wind. He was featured in Aztec mythology and mythologies of other cultures from the central Mexico region of Mesoamerica.

The discovery was led by Edwina Villegas Gomez, the director of the archaeological area of Tlatelolco and the Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History. The team found the temple 3 meters below the old supermarket and other more artifacts around the stone structure. These things might have been used as offerings to the ancient god.

Among the gruesome finds were eight complete skeletons that include six infants, an adult male and an adult female. They also discovered incense burners, cactus thorns and pottery.

The team said that the location was once part of a sacred Aztec city-state called Tlatelolco. This place became abominable when a massacre of a group of protesting students happened. They were killed by Mexican soldiers in 1968. Tlatelolco is situated now in the northern part of Mexico City. It was a thriving city for the Aztecs, who were the Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican people of central Mexico in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries.

It was found that there were other 43,000 archeological finds in the area including the discovery of wind god temple. The discoveries including the platform and the ritual site will provide information on how the ancient Aztecs worshiped their gods. This will also give hints on how the city of Tlatelolco became a spiritual capital, according to Science Alert.