Animals and the Sacred Precinct of Tenochtitlan: Biology, Archaeology, History, and Conservation

After eight field seasons (1978-2016) working at the sacred precinct of Tenochtitlan, the Proyecto Templo Mayor (INAH, Mexico) has recovered an amazing diversity of animal species. As a result, more than three hundred species have been identified. The resulting information has been on display to the public in a gallery devoted to fauna in the Templo Mayor Museum and has also been published in numerous studies on biological, ecological, and taphonomic aspects of the animals deposited in offerings. Among our principal conclusions regarding the faunal remains from the Templo Mayor, we can mention: a) the presence of species corresponding to six different phyla (Porifera, Coelenterata, Echinodermata, Artropoda, Mollusca, and Chordata); b) the predominance of species endemic to regions quite far away from the Basin of Mexico; c) the scarcity of edible species and the clear interest on the part of Mexica priests in those animals that were attributed with profound religious or cosmological significance; d) evidence of captivity; e) traces of cultural processes for modifying the animal cadavers, some of which may be qualified as "taxidermic" interventions; f) the use of fauna in offerings to re-create vertical tiers of the universe and with this to configure veritable cosmograms.