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Wiping away 5 centuries of sediment to reveal a skeleton. It's of a woman.
And she's not alone.
There are nearly 1,800 bones here. Archeologists believe they are the remains of
seven adults and three children.
Rocío Morales and her team discovered the remains 5 meters below the surface
in Mexico City's Templo Mayor.
Before the Spanish Conquest and before modern Mexico,
this was the capital of the Aztec empire.
[Voice of Translator] We believe it was a woman because the bones are very thin, and it looks like
the bones were arranged around her as part of the ceremonial burial.
[Levin] This discovery is unprecedented.
It's the first evidence of mass sacrifice or reburial of remains for members of the ruling class.
[Voice of Translator] It's really exiting to make this kind of discovery and be so lucky to be the first one
to dig it out and register it.
[Levin] The Templo Mayor dates back to the 14th century,
and it's one of the richest archeological sites here in the country.
It's also in Mexico City which presents unique challenges to the archeologists who dig here.
Excavation of the Templo Mayor didn't begin until the early half of the 20th century.
New construction often reveals Mexico's buried past.
Archeologist Raúl Barrera has spent a life time excavating ancient sites in Mexico,
but says that working in the Capital requires special skills.
[Voice of Translator] Below the surface there are drains, electric cables, phone lines, and water wells.
So it's really challenging to work in these circumstances.
[Levin] So far, more than 7 thousand objects have been discovered, including figures, sculptures,
masks, skeletons, and gold.
The archeological finds are important in understanding Mexico's pre-Hispanic period.
And for Rocío and her team, solving the mystery of this ceremonial Aztec burial
is just the latest piece in that puzzle.
Rachel Levin, AlJazeera, Mexico City.