Download or read book The Great Temple of the Aztecs written by Eduardo Matos Moctezuma and published by Thames & Hudson. This book was released on 1988 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After Cortes' extraordinary conquest of the Aztecs in 1521, the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan, was leveled and its Great Temple demolished. In 1978, clues that led to the rediscovery of the Great Temple and the most spectacular excavations ever conducted in Mexico. Matos discovered ritual deposits containing thousands of offerings from all over the Aztec empire; jaguar skeletons, jade masks, obsidian knives, stone sculptures, and effigy vessels. Matos links these to the overall symbolism of the temple and its fearsome deities, the war and rain gods. Fully illustrated and complete with extensive quotations from 16th-century chronicles.