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'Passage to the underworld' found under church in Mexico (video)

Bylim Olena

'Passage to the underworld' found under church in Mexico (video)
Ancient labyrinths under a temple in Mexico

Archaeologists have found fascinating evidence of a lost world in underground tunnels beneath a series of church buildings in Mexico. The discovery was made at the Mitla archaeological site near the city of Oaxaca by a team from the Mexican National Institute of History and Anthropology (INAH), the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), the Association of Archaeological Research and Exploration, and the ARX project.

Mitla is an extremely important historical site for the indigenous Zapotec culture, whose civilization flourished in the Oaxaca Valley from 700 BC until Spanish colonization in 1521. This archaeological area probably originated in the Classical period (ca. 250-900 AD), but gained its greatest importance in the Postclassical period. According to colonial-era documents and local tradition, Mitla was considered the entrance to the underworld or Liobaa, which means "land of the dead."

Read also: Archaeologists in Mexico have found the land of the dead Zapotecs Liobaa (video)

A team of archaeologists used various geophysical scanning techniques to uncover an underground labyrinth that exists beneath a set of structures known as the Church Group. The underground tunnels are located 5-8 meters (16-26 feet) underground and indicate the presence of a large chamber. These studies show that the ancient Zapotecs had a complex system of underground passages that were considered entrances to the land of the dead.

 

As a reminder, near the village of Kaczków in Poland, archaeologists have made a discovery that could change our understanding of ancient rituals. Using drones to survey several fields near the village, they discovered an ancient ritual center that could have been an astronomical observatory.

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