Chance sometimes does things well. While digging for a new road project about 90 kilometers north of Mexico City, Mexico, workers hit something much harder than dirt. It was a square masonry structure, perfectly preserved beneath the surface, what experts call a “momoztli,” a sacrificial altar.
The small building measures a little over a square meter. Made up of three layers of slabs superimposed, it probably sat in the center of a ceremonial space. All around, archaeologists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) have unearthed traces of walls suggesting that this space belonged to a residential or ritual sector linked to the elites of Tula. But it was above all the offerings still present nearby that struck the researchers: leg bones and four human skulls.
According to the first conclusions relayed by the media Live Science, this discovery offers a look at the imperial period of Tula, dated between 900 and 1150 AD. At this time, the Toltecs dominated the region and enjoyed a reputation as fearsome warriors, whose influence extended to the Mayan lands of Yucatán.
#National 🔍🪨 INAH specialists discovered in Tula a momoztli, a pre-Hispanic altar that brought new tracks to the ceremonial life of the cultural culture.https://t.co/R8aZQVanJI pic.twitter.com/voivLNRFAx
— El Diario de Coahuila (@DiarioCoahuila) March 25, 2026
Archaeologist Víctor Francisco Heredia Guillén, who coordinates the excavations, emphasizes the importance of staging: “We know these are offerings because they are located specifically in certain sections of the structure», he explains in the INAH press release.
Warriors sacrificed to feed the gods?
The analysis of the remains tells of the tragic end of the victims. One of the skulls still has attached cervical vertebrae, indicating clear decapitation. At the time, priests used blades of obsidian, a volcanic glass sharper than a modern scalpel. “Even though the metal was already worked at the time, we know that decapitations were still carried out here with obsidian or flint knives, and they left cut marks on the bones”specifies Heredia Guillén.
The question historians are now asking is who these sacrifices were. Were they enemy soldiers captured on the battlefield or servants offered during rituals organized by the elites? In Tula, war and religion were closely linked: offering the blood of the vanquished was seen as a necessity to maintain world order and secure the favor of Quetzalcoatl, the Feathered Serpent whose pyramid still dominates the archaeological site.
For Claudia Curiel de Icaza, the Mexican Secretary of Culture, it is a major testimony to the past brought to light almost by chance. “Each discovery like this expands our knowledge of one of the great civilizations of Mesoamerica,” she assures. Because beyond the macabre aspect, it is all the complexity of a hierarchical society and extremely complex in its architecture and rituals which shines through these few square meters of stone and bones.
However, the work has only just begun. The remains discovered will now be analyzed using modern science: chemical and DNA analyzes should make it possible to determine the geographical origin of the victims, their diet and perhaps even their state of health before the sacrifice. These data will help to understand how Tula managed its borders and its relations with neighboring peoples, often subjugated by force.
