Tunnel under the Temple of the Plumed Serpent

May 20, 2016 8:27 AM

In 2003, a sinkhole opened up at the base of the Temple of the Plumed Serpent in the ruins of Teotihuacán. "In archaeology and anthropology circles—to say nothing of the popular press—Sergio Gómez’s discovery was greeted as a major turning point in Teotihuacán studies. The tunnel under the Temple of the Sun had been largely emptied by looters before archaeologists could get to it in the 1990s. But Gómez’s tunnel had been sealed off for some 1,800 years: Its treasures would be pristine." Here's an update on what they've found.
posted by goatdog (13 comments total)

This was a neat article, but perhaps my favourite part was the delicious mellifluousness of "Clemency Coggins, professor emerita."
posted by Diablevert at 8:58 AM on May 20, 2016 [10 favorites]

"... it had apparently been intentionally sealed with large boulders nearly 2,000 years ago. Whatever was inside that tunnel, Gómez thought to himself, was meant to stay hidden forever."

What could possibly go wrong?
posted by Kabanos at 9:05 AM on May 20, 2016 [24 favorites]

The Indy sequels, they write themselves!
posted by yhbc at 9:32 AM on May 20, 2016 [2 favorites]

Throw me the idol!
posted by briank at 10:06 AM on May 20, 2016 [1 favorite]

Besides finding a lot of cool artifacts, this seems to be the big (potential) discovery:

Through the middle of Teotihuacán studies runs a division like a fault line, separating those who believe that the city was ruled by an all-powerful and violent king and those who argue that it was governed by a council of elite families or otherwise bound groups, vying over time for relative influence, arising from the cosmopolitan nature of the city itself. The first camp, which includes experts like Saburo Sugiyama, has precedent on its side—the Maya, for instance, are famous for their warlike kings—but unlike Mayan cities, where rulers had their visages festooned on buildings and where they were buried in opulent tombs, Teotihuacán has offered up no such decorations, nor tombs.

Initially, much of the buzz surrounding the tunnel beneath the Temple of the Plumed Serpent centered on the possibility that Gómez and his colleagues might finally locate one such tomb, and thereby solve one of the city’s most fundamental enduring mysteries. Gómez himself has entertained the idea. But as we clambered through the tunnel, he laid out a hypothesis that seemed to stem more directly from the mythological readings of the city laid out by scholars like Clemency Coggins and Michael Coe.

But, as said, it appears the answer to that question has not been found yet.
posted by rebent at 10:41 AM on May 20, 2016

If that wasn't the title of a mid-80s D&D module, it should have been.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 11:01 AM on May 20, 2016 [9 favorites]

Wow, that's just fascinating. 70,000 artifacts! It reminds me of the epic excavations in Istanbul under the new subway. Previously.
posted by suelac at 11:09 AM on May 20, 2016

70,000 artifacts, and they show one - a shell that is found "throughout the city"?
posted by jetsetsc at 12:02 PM on May 20, 2016 [4 favorites]

Well, to be fair, armed looters aren't likely to come raid for seashells. This is an awesome story, I've sent it around to archeology fans in my group.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 12:11 PM on May 20, 2016

This is exactly what I hoped archaeology would be like back when I was in elementary school -- before I learned that you mostly find potsherds, rather than SECRET TUNNELS with MYSTERIOUS DARK STONE FIGURES. Now if they can just figure out where the medallion fits, they can probably launch the condor.
posted by SandCounty at 12:25 PM on May 20, 2016 [1 favorite]

First this and now this. I'm not sure about this "Dan-Brown-writing-reality" thing...
posted by Navelgazer at 1:02 PM on May 20, 2016

THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED

ENEMIES OF THE HEIR BEWARE
posted by divabat at 5:17 PM on May 20, 2016

...Yeah, and I forget the next couple of lines, but then it goes:

Secret tunnel!
Secret tunnel!
Through the mountain!
Secret, secret, secret, secret tunnel!
posted by nonasuch at 5:21 PM on May 20, 2016 [2 favorites]