Mexico finds the largest reservoir of starfish in the country's capital

Mexico City, 14 Mar An offering in which 164 starfish have been found in the excavation of the Templo Mayor, in the heart of Mexico City's Historic Center, is pointed out as the largest deposit of starfish ever discovered in these ruins, reported Monday the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH). In a statement, INAH indicated that the abundance of this offering “places it as the largest number of starfish of all discovered in the ancient Sacred Site of Tenochtitlan.” “It also represents a unique case of conservation of one of these echinoderms that, similar to a fossil, preserves its almost intact form, despite the passage of time,” the institute said. INAH explained that among the archaeological remains investigated since 2019, through the Templo Mayor Project (PTM), offerings are made in which the Mexica combined terrestrial elements such as a copal figurine and the body of a jaguar armed with an atlatl -propeller of darts-, together with marine organisms: corals, puffer fish, snails and starfish. Within the find, a 22 centimeter starfish of the species Nidorellia armata stands out, colloquially known as “chocolate chips”, which preserves the imprint of its shape and internal structure. The discovery in the circular building known as Cuauhxicalco at the end of 2021, by archaeologist Miguel Báez Pérez and specialist Tomás Cruz Ruiz, the most experienced PTM worker, is the result of “fortunate coincidences”. “This offering is one of the largest that we have found in the Templo Mayor, so until we explore the 30 or 40 centimeters deep that we think we lack, it is difficult to know its meaning,” Báez Pérez explained. Experts believe that it was perhaps one of the first stars that the Mexican priests placed in the offering, so when it received the weight of the jaguar and all the elements it sunk into what is believed to be a layer of fiber beneath it, preserving the mark of its internal structure and its 22 centimeters long between its tips. This situation, they pointed out, is unusual, given that the remains of the other 163 stars are scattered, due to the natural loss of their organic matter. However, the actual location of the offering, in the sixth construction phase of the Templo Mayor, places it around 1500, a time of transition between the reigns of Ahuizotl and Moctezuma Xocoyotzin. MILITARY EXPANSION Specialists point out that the military expansion of the Mexicas in various parts of Mesoamerica accounts for the presence in Tenochtitlan (Mexico City) of corals brought from the Gulf of Mexico, starfish from the Pacific Ocean, and a female jaguar that may have been brought from distant regions such as Soconusco, a localized territory between what is now Chiapas and Guatemala. The statement indicated that, based on historical sources, such as the Tribute License Plate, and previous findings, “the archaeologists of the PTM are clear that the offering is related to war” because it is on “the south side of the Main Temple, consecrated to Huitzilopochtli, god of war”. Meanwhile, Baez Pérez explains that in his worldview, “Mexicas related starfish and jaguars to the night sky and night”. “Many Mesoamerican peoples believed that the origin of the world was linked to the sea, therefore marine organisms were treated as relics. In the case of the Mexicas, their military power allowed them to bring thousands of marine objects and recreate an entire aquatic environment in Tenochtitlan itself,” he said. The starfish located by Báez Pérez and Cruz Ruiz continues to be “in situ” and in the coming weeks the most convenient way of removing it in bulk will be analyzed in order to maintain its shape and facilitate its scientific study in the laboratory.