Map of Mexico, 1550
The University of Uppsala in Sweden has put its 1550 map of Mexico City
by Alonso de Santa Cruz on-line. The map is zoomable and allows people to add annotations to the map. The clarity is very good.
News
TAMTOC, ORIGIN OF THE MESOAMERICAN CULTURE
The discovery of the Monument 32in Tamtoc, eight meters long, four meters and a half high, a thickness of 32 centimeters and a weight between 10 and 12 tons, can generate radical changes in the concepts of the Mesoamerican culture, which might have had its origin here, in the potosinian Huasteca.
Read MoreHeavens offer unique clues to the seasons
Before the advent of calendars, the only way to mark the changing of the seasons was through direct observation. Ancient peoples observed the passage of the sun north from the Winter Solstice, and then south from the Summer Solstice. In Mesoamerica the people observed the sun passing directly overhead twice a year by using special tubes in the temples that pointed at the zenith.
Read MoreKennewick Man Skeletal Find May Revolutionalize Continent’s History
Dr. Hugh Berryman, research professor, was one of only 11 experts
from across the United States to scrutinize the bones of Kennewick
Man, a 9,300-year-old skeleton found 10 years ago along the Columbia
River at Kennewick, Wash.
Temple of the Fox found in Peru
An ancient temple contains the oldest sculptures and astronomically oriented structures found in the New World. The 33-foot stepped pyramid temple, the Temple of the Fox, in a 20-acre excavation site at Buena Vista, Peru. The temple dates to 2220 B.C. – which makes it 1,000 years older than anything of its kind previously found.
Read MoreCloud of scholarly dust rises over ancient footprints claim
Are the footprints of surprisingly ancient Americans preserved in
40,000-year-old volcanic ash in southern Mexico? In December, an
article in the journal Science cast a cloud of doubt over that claim.
Mexican monolith could change history
3,000-year-old carvings contain ‘new symbols in Mesoamerica’ MEXICO CITY – A carved monolith unearthed in Mexico may show that the
Read MoreJapanese researchers discover remains of what appears to be 4,800-year-old temple in Peru
Japanese researchers said they have discovered–with
the unintended help of looters–what appears to be a temple ruins at
least 4,800 years old that could be one of the oldest in the Americas.
The temple is believed to have been built before or around 2600 BC
when Peru’s oldest known city, Caral, was created, the researchers said.
For ‘ancient grains,’ a future in the American diet
Amid the aisles of spaghetti and canned peas, cereals and breads made with mysterious-sounding grains such as amaranth and quinoa are sprouting up at major supermarkets.
Read MoreArchaeological site yields dental surprise
Researchers report Wednesday that they found a 4,500-year-old burial
in Mexico that had the oldest known example of dental work in the
Americas.
The upper front teeth of the remains had been ground down so they
could be mounted with animal teeth, possibly wolf or panther teeth,
for ceremonial purposes.
Ancient Earthworks Electronically Rebuilt, To Become A Traveling Exhibit
Native American cultures that once flourished in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and West Virginia constructed geometric and animal-shaped earth works that often rivaled Stonehenge in their astronomical accuracy. This lost heritage from the Adena, Hopewell and Fort Ancient cultures is returning in the form of a traveling exhibit that will include virtual reconstructions of earthworks from 39 sites.
Read MoreArcheologists to search for lost mission
Amateur archeologists will get a chance to search this summer for the lost mission of Santa Isabel de Utinahica, built in the wilderness in the 1600s for a lone friar who was dispatched to evangelize among the Indians on the edge of Spain’s colonial empire.
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