Beneath Teotihuacan's Temple of the Feathered Serpent lies a hand-dug tunnel stretching roughly 100 meters, sealed between 200–300 CE. Researchers found over 120,000 artifacts inside, including pyrite-coated clay orbs, liquid mercury, seashells from Maya territory, and walls coated in sparkling mineral dust mimicking a starry sky. Incredible!
Tunnel under Teotihuacan's Temple of the Feathered Serpent yields 120,000+ artifacts
Key facts
- Tunnel discovered after a 2003 sinkhole, averaging 2.5 m (8 ft) floor to ceiling, large enough to walk upright
- Robot named LA 2TC with infrared camera and laser scanners mapped approximately 37 m before rubble blocked its path
- First excavation permission and funding received in 2009; entrance dug a few meters west of original sinkhole
- Tunnel level sits 14 m below ground; excavations done entirely by hand, removing nearly 1,000 tons of dirt and rock
- Decommissioning of the tunnel (filling with rubble) dated via ceramics and carbon-14 to between 200 and 300 CE
- Tunnel terminates in three shallow chambers directly below the center of the Temple of the Feathered Serpent; reached in 2015
- Approximately 400 pyrite-covered clay orbs (yellowish from oxidation) found in one side chamber, ranging from golf-ball to softball size
- Liquid mercury pooled in a sculpted mountainous landscape model in the central chamber; mercury produced by burning cinnabar, a substance not found locally
- Thousands of artifacts found, including hundreds of seashells (some from the Maya area), broken pottery, jewelry (necklaces, bracelets, earrings), and animal bones (jaguar, eagle, canine)
- Four green stone figures with tiny woven clothing and jewelry found in front of the cache; a rubber ball placed atop a mountain peak model
- Walls and ceilings coated with magnetite, hematite, and pyrite, creating a sparkling starry-sky effect
- A sealed pit at the tunnel's end contained burned wood, charred corn, beans, peppers, pumpkin seeds, and four intact flower bouquets tied with cotton string
- The pit burning was dated to approximately 100 to 200 CE
- No human bones were ever recovered from the tunnel, ruling out a royal tomb interpretation
Site mentioned
📍 Temple of the Feathered Serpent🌍 Show on the globe
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