Under a pyramid in Teotihuacan, Mexico, archaeologists discovered an underground tunnel that they believe was designed to resemble the underworld. Electrical investigations at the old city revealed the length of the enigmatic tunnel.
“The discovery demonstrates that Teotihuacan’s recreated the same pattern of tunnels linked with their huge constructions, whose function had to be the replication of the underworld,” said archaeologist Veronica Ortega, who was involved in the discovery.
The tunnel runs from the Pyramid of the Moon, the site’s second largest structure, to the central square and is hidden 10 meters (33 feet) into the ground.
“The tunnel’s purpose could have been to recreate the underworld, a world where life, animals, and vegetation first appeared. It’s probable that it was only utilized for rituals, as part of celebrations commemorating the agricultural seasons “Ortega stated.
The next stage will be to send archaeologists into the tunnel to investigate it further. Researchers expect that, unlike a previous tunnel discovered at the location, the new tunnel has not been robbed.
Teotihuacan (literally “the location where the gods were made”), located north of Mexico City, once had a population of about 125,000 people. Human bones at the site show that it was used for human sacrifices between the first and seventh centuries before being abandoned around 550 AD.
The tunnel was discovered in June, and details about it were published on Tuesday by researchers at Mexico City’s National Institute of Anthropology and History.
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