Archaeologists discover 500-year-old Aztec starfish altar
STORY: LOCATOR: Templo Mayor, Mexico City
A 500-year-old Aztec 'starfish altar'
was unearthed at a temple in Mexico
[Miguel Baez Perez, Archaeologist]
“In total there are 164 starfishes there, which makes it the altar with the largest number of starfishes we’ve found up until now.”
Archaeologists believe the fossils
correspond to a specific species
known as the 'chocolate chip sea star'
or Nidorellia armata
Jaguar bones and other remains
such as seashells were also found
[Miguel Baez Perez, Archaeologist]
“This is really interesting because if you think about it, this starfish looks like the skin of a jaguar. It’s orange with dark spots.
Experts say the jaguar motifs mean
the offerings were related to battle
