Ancient Mexicans brought victims from afar
DNA indicates human sacrifices involved people from other cultures
 Henry Romero / Reuters The Pyramid of the Moon rises above the landscape at Mexico's Teotihuacan site. |
Updated: 4:38 p.m. PT April 11, 2007
MEXICO CITY - Ancient Mexicans brought human sacrifice victims from hundreds of miles away over centuries to sanctify a pyramid in the oldest city in North America, an archaeologist said Wednesday.
DNA tests on the skeletons of more than 50 victims discovered in 2004 in the Pyramid of the Moon at the Teotihuacan ruins revealed they were from faraway Mayan, Pacific or Atlantic coastal cultures.
The bodies, many of which were decapitated, dated from between A.D. 50 and 500, and were killed at different times to dedicate new stages of construction of the pyramid just north of Mexico City.
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