14th-Century Steambath Discovered in Mexico City

archaeologist in Mexico City have uncover a pre - Hispanic steambath dating back to the fourteenth century . Its location in the urban center ’s historical district confirms the whereabouts of a vivacious locality that once stood in Tenochtitlán — an ancient urban center that eventually became Mexico City .

The 14th - hundred steambath , or temazcal as its known in the autochthonous Nahuatl language , was see by archaeologist Víctor Esperón Calleja and his colleagues from Mexico ’s National Institute of Anthropology and chronicle ( INAH),accordingto the institute ’s jam release . The domed structure is situate near La Merced in Mexico City beneath Talavera Street . The temazcal was constructed in the fourteenth one C and was in all likelihood used for medicinal and ghostlike purposes and even childbirth , reportsMexico News Daily .

The INAH archaeologists also feel grounds of a post - compound house that was inhabited by an indigenous family of noble line , as well as the remnants of a tannery that was in functioning during the 18th 100 .

Remains of the steambath found beneath Mexico City.

Remains of the steambath found beneath Mexico City.Image: (INAH)

fuel by the natural red-hot natural spring underneath , the temazcal included a tub ( basically a pool of pee ) and a bench for sitting , and the construction was made from block of adobe and stucco - coated volcanic rock get laid as tezontle , according to the INAH archaeologist . occupier who ride or bath within the vaulted structure , which measured 5 meters ( 16.5 feet ) long and 2.98 m ( 9.8 foot ) wide , could luxuriate and clean themselves in the warm steam .

Importantly , the discovery of this temazcal confirms the emplacement of Temazcaltitlan , one of the erstwhile neighborhoods in Tenochtitlán , the Mexica capital that finally became Mexico City .

The discovery also sustain write accounts discover the sweat lodge . Writing in his Crónica Mexicáyotl , Hernando Alvarado Tezozómoc , a Nahua nobleman , key a Tenochtitlán temazcal that was work up to bathe and make pure a noble Mixiuhca girl named Quetzalmoyahuatzi , and how other town were also welcome to partake in in the steambath , according to INAH . Calleja , the loss leader of the archaeological expedition , said the breakthrough cater palpable evidence of the temazcal , while also substantiate the unearthly and ethnical importance of the Temazcaltitlan neighbourhood .

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INAH archaeologist Víctor Esperón Calleja stands next to a tannery that was in use during the last century of Spanish rule.Image: (INAH)

Indeed , evidence gathered prior to this find suggested as much , pointing to this locating as a place where female deities , including the gods of purification , steambaths , fertility , water , and childbirth , were hero-worship , explained Calleja in the printing press discharge . Interestingly , residents of Temazcaltitlan also worshipped deities associated with pulque — a pre - hispanic alcohol-dependent boozing made from agave and other plant .

To the west of the situation , the INAH squad feel shadow of a theatre likely dwell by an autochthonous family of imposing descent , as certify by floors made from adobe brick blocks and wall decorated with red motifs . The archaeologists dated the house to the Early Colonial Period ( 1521 to 1620 ) . They also found the remainder of a former tannery ( a leather manufacturing shop ) that was in military operation during the New Spain geological period ( 1720 to 1820 ) . The tannery in all probability source its leather from cattle slaughtered at a nearby butchery , agree to the investigator .

Looking ahead , the INAH team is hoping to see more about the neighbourhood and the people who lived there .

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