Archaeologists discover astronomical observatory linked to sun worship in Mexico

Archaeologists have uncovered an ancient astronomical observatory dating back between 700 and 1,100 years in western Mexico, revealing evidence of sun worship among the Aztatlan culture. The finding has helped define the importance astronomy had in the region.

The finding was made at the Cerro de Coamiles archaeological site, one of the leading centres of the Aztatlan culture (850 – 1350 AD), located in the central coast of Nayarit, Western Mexico.  Aztatlan (otherwise called Aztlan) is the legendary ancestral home of the Aztec. According to legend, there were seven tribes who lived in Chicomoztoc (“the place of the seven caves”). Each cave represented a different group: the Xochimilca, Tlahuica, Acolhua, Tlaxcalan, Tepaneca, Chalca, and Mexica. Because of their common linguistic origin, the groups are called collectively “Nahuatlaca”. These tribes subsequently left the caves and settled Aztatlan. Aztec is the Nahuatl word for “people from Aztlan”.