Mysterious 500-year-old skeleton buried in palace of Cortes revealed to be Aztec woman

Buried in the Mexico City palace of Hernan Cortes is a mysterious, centuries-old skeleton. Its true identity had been obscured for decades — until now.

Following an earthquake that damaged the palace in 2017, archaeologists were given the opportunity to reexamine the bones, according to a Jan. 18 news release from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH).

They determined that the remains, which had been labeled as a Spanish monk for 50 years, were incorrectly identified.

If they indeed belonged to a clergyman, they would have been buried within his community and with Catholic burial rites, officials said.

The remains instead belonged to an Aztec woman of the Tlahuica tribe, officials revealed.

She was estimated to have been 30 to 40 years old when she died and was buried underneath large rocks sometime between 1450 or 1500 A.D. — just before the Spanish conquest of modern-day Mexico.

Interestingly, the woman’s skull exhibited signs of modification, a common practice throughout pre-Hispanic Latin America.

By binding the heads of young children, indigenous populations were able to change their shape over time, according to the book “Purposeful Pain.”

Additionally, the nearby remains of two other individuals — an infant and a child — are believed to be linked to the woman’s burial, officials said.

A new placard now correctly identifies the centuries-old remains as those of a “Tlahuica Woman,” officials said.

Google Translate was used to translate a news release from INAH.

This story was originally published January 26, 2024 at 4:36 PM with the headline "Mysterious 500-year-old skeleton buried in palace of Cortes revealed to be Aztec woman."