Toltec

The skeletons of two dozen children killed in an ancient mass sacrifice have been found in a tomb at a construction site in Mexico. The find reveals new details about the ancient Toltec civilization and adds to an ongoing debate over ritualistic killing in historic Mesoamerica.

The grisly find of the buried bones of 24 pre-Hispanic Mexican children may be the first evidence that the ancient Toltec civilization sacrificed children, an archeologist studying the remains said on Monday.

The bones, dating from 950 AD to 1150 AD and dug up at the Toltecs’ former capital Tula, north of present day Mexico City, indicated the children had been decapitated in a group.