Construction Crew Uncovers the Grave of One of Mexico's First Catholic Priests Danny Lewis - Smithsonian.com
go to original April 14, 2016

The tombstone (Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia)

Recently, a construction crew installing lamp posts in Mexico City made a surprising discovery: the gravesite of one of the country’s first Catholic priests. The long-forgotten tomb was built at the site of Mexico’s first cathedral, atop the remains of an Aztec temple destroyed during the Spanish Conquest.

The construction crew was digging holes to install the foundations for lamp posts outside of one of Mexico’s largest Catholic cathedrals when they uncovered the site. Inside the grave, archaeologists discovered a six-foot-long stone slab bearing the name of Miguel de Palomares, a 16th-century priest who arrived in Mexico shortly after Hernán Cortes and his soldiers conquered the country, Sarah Laskow reports for Atlas Obscura.

Archaeologists believe that Palomares’ tomb was originally located inside the country’s first Catholic cathedral, which was torn down and replaced with a larger one in the 18th century. The original building was constructed just a few years after Cortes seized control of the Aztec Empire, and archaeologists found evidence inside the newly discovered tomb that the church was built on top of the remains of an Aztec temple, the Associated Press reports.

Historians have long known that the Spanish built churches on top of the demolished remains of Aztec temples, as both symbols of their power and for the convenience of using the existing structures. After inspecting the tomb, archaeologists found that the slab was installed on a sunken floor that was originally built for an Aztec temple, but was covered in a thin layer of whitewash by the Spaniards, the AP reports. According to Barrera, these remains demonstrate just how quickly the Spanish invaders were able to conquer the Aztec’s capital city and subjugate its populace.

Read the rest at Smithsonian.com

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