Ancient Pyramid Discovered in Mexico

By MARK STEVENSON, Associated Press Writer Thu Apr 6, 6:33 PM ET

MEXICO CITY - Archeologists announced on Wednesday they have
discovered a massive 6th-century Indian pyramid beneath a
centuries-old Catholic religious site.
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Built on a hillside by the mysterious Teotihuacan culture, the pyramid
was abandoned almost 1,000 years before Christians began re-enacting
the Crucifixion there in the 1800s.

"When they first saw us digging there, the local people just couldn't
believe there was a pyramid," said archaeologist Jesus Sanchez. "It
was only when the slopes and shapes of the pyramid, the floors with
altars were found, that the finally believed us."

Ceramic fragments and the presence of other ceremonial structures on
the hill suggested the possibility there was a pyramid or temple
somewhere nearby, but the theory wasn't proved until a member of
Sanchez's team, Miriam Advincula, started a project to map the site in
2004. Exploratory trenches dug in 2005 and 2006 confirmed the find.

"Both the pre-Hispanic structure and the Holy Week rituals are part of
our cultural legacy, so we have to look for a way to protect both
cultural values," said Sanchez, who, along with archaeologist Miriam
Advincula, has been exploring the site since 2004.

The people of Iztapalapa â€" now a low-income neighborhood plagued by
squatter settlements â€" began re-enacting the Passion of Christ in
1833, to give thanks for divine protection during a cholera epidemic.

During the ritual, which draws as many as a million spectators every
year, a wooden cross is raised just a few yards from the buried
remains of the Teotihuacan temple, and a man chosen to portray Christ
is tied to the cross.

Archeologists said they will fill in the excavation pits that revealed
the pyramid to prevent the structure from being damaged by Good Friday
spectators.

Measuring nearly 500 feet on each side, the 60-foot-tall pyramid was
carved out on a natural hillside around 500 A.D., the scientists said.
It was abandoned about 300 years later when the Teotihuacan culture
collapsed.

Mexico abounds with cases in which Spanish conquerors literally built
their Catholic faith atop the remains of older religions.

But the case of Iztapalapa hillside, known as the Hill of the Star,
appears to be mere geographical coincidence, Sanchez said.

Pre-Hispanic cultures chose the hills that dot the otherwise flat,
mountain-ringed Mexico Valley for their ceremonial sites, and
postcolonial communities did the same.
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