Mexico finds 50 skulls in sacred Aztec temple

A skull recently discovered at the archaeological site Templo Mayor sits on display in Mexico City, Friday, Oct. 5, 2012. Mexican archaeologists say they have found the largest amount of skulls at the most sacred temple of the Aztec empire. Five of the 50 skulls that were found, including this scull, were buried under a sacrificial stone and have holes on both sides of the head, evidence they were hung on a skull rack. (AP Photo/Alexandre Meneghini) The team of archeologists unearthed the skulls and jaw bones in August. They stumbled on them as they were renovating a section of the Templo Mayor in the heart of Mexico City. Barrera said they believe the 45 skulls were those of women and men between 20 and 35 years old and could have been dug up from other sites and reburied. Last August, the Mexican government announced experts had found an unprecedented human burial at another spot in the same temple in which the skeleton of a young woman, possibly sacrificed personifying a goddess, was surrounded by piles of nearly 1,800 bones. Another unusual finding this summer was a "sacred tree," which looks like a battered oak trunk emerging from a well and which experts say was brought from a mountain region for a ritual.

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