21 October 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

A 500-year-old mural linked to an Aztec god was found under layers of paint in Mexican Church

A mural of an Aztec rabbit God of alcohol is not something anyone expects to see inside a church, but that is exactly what workers in Mexico discovered. A team of restorers hired to repair the building’s main structure was astounded aback when they noticed pre-Hispanic iconography in a Catholic Church in Tepotzlán, Mexico.

According to a news release from Mexico’s Ministry of Culture and National Institute of Anthropology and History on October 3, the former Convent of the Nativity in Tepoztlán was constructed in the 16th century as a component of the first Catholic monastery built in the region. After a 2017 earthquake, renovation work on the old convent started.

Underneath layers of paint on the walls of three open-air chapels, archaeologists noticed part of a red circle, archaeologists said. They expected the coloring to reveal a painting, the Virgin Mary, or Jesus Christ. But they were wrong.

Photo from Mexico’s Ministry of Culture and National Institute of Anthropology and History

The mural is made up of a red circle about one meter in diameter. There are renderings of several pre-Columbian images within the circle, including an axe, a chimalli or shield, a sprig of flowers, and a feathered headdress or “penacho,” which was traditionally worn by an Aztec aristocrat.

Due to the fragile nature of the feathers and other organic materials, very few penachos have been discovered, and there are very few wall-based images of them. The Welt Museum, an ethnographic museum in Vienna, Austria, currently holds the most well-known example of the actual headdress, the Moctezuma headdress. In 2021, the museum turned down a request to loan the item to an exhibition in Mexico.



📣 Our WhatsApp channel is now LIVE! Stay up-to-date with the latest news and updates, just click here to follow us on WhatsApp and never miss a thing!!



The faded red paint formed a well-preserved red circle, about 4 inches thick, experts said.

The circle measured 11 centimeters (4,33 in.) thick and just over a meter (39,37 in.) in diameter. These dimensions match those of a 16th century Marian shield that was also painted in the Posa chapels.

Archaeologists during excavation work at the Convent of Tepoztlán where uncovered pre-Hispanic paintings. (Frida Mateos / INAH)
Archaeologists during excavation work at the Convent of Tepoztlán where uncovered pre-Hispanic paintings. (Frida Mateos / INAH)

The archaeologists said the painted chimalli “connects the current population of Tepoztlán with their ancestry.” Furthermore, their report claimed that the painting was evidence of “transformations of Tepoztecan society.

Tepoztlán is in the Mexican state of Morelos, south of Mexico City, and is part of El Tepozteco National Park. Quetzalcoatl, the Aztec divine feathered serpent, is said to have been born here. This site was once dominated by the Aztec Tepozteco pyramid, which was built on a dramatic cliff top above the town.

The former monastery, the Tepoztlán Ex-Convento de la Natividad (Convent of Tepoztlán), was built between 1555 and 1580 AD.

This native red circle’s use in a Christian building, right next to an anagram of the Virgin Mary, has raised the question: what is an Aztec god of alcohol and drunkenness doing in a 16th-century Christian church?

The excavation was funded by the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of the First Popocatépetl Monasteries project.

INAH

Related Articles

Artificial Intelligence Project That Will Revolutionize Archaeology

5 April 2021

5 April 2021

Polish Scientists to opening a new era in archeology They plan to use artificial intelligence to detect prehistoric cemeteries, castles,...

Three Strange Skull Modifications Discovered in Viking Women

31 March 2024

31 March 2024

In recent years, research has provided evidence for permanent body modification in the Viking Age. The latest of these investigations...

An Ancient Large Clay Vessel “Hum” 1.75 Meters High Unearthed in Kyrgyzstan

9 March 2024

9 March 2024

During recent archaeological excavations in the town of Uzgen in the Osh province of Kyrgyzstan, a 1.75-meter-high clay vessel known...

New discoveries found under demolished historic Tawfiq Pasha Andraos Palace in Egypt

31 October 2021

31 October 2021

An Egyptian archaeological mission excavating at the site of the recently demolished Tawfiq Pasha Andraos Palace discovered a number of...

From Toy to Treasure: Detectorist’s ‘Lucky Mistake’ Reveals 2,000-Year-Old Roman Brooch in Dorset

25 September 2025

25 September 2025

A metal detectorist in Dorset, southwest England, has unearthed a 2,000-year-old Roman brooch. Initially mistaken for a child’s toy, the...

Lost sketches by Leonardo Da Vinci show that he understood gravity long before Newton

19 February 2023

19 February 2023

Leonardo da Vinci’s centuries-old sketches show that he may have understood key aspects of gravity long before Galileo, Newton, and...

Denisovans or Homo Sapiens: Who Were the First to Settle Permanently on the Tibetan Plateau?

8 December 2021

8 December 2021

The Tibetan Plateau has long been considered one of the last places to be populated by people in their migration...

Woodhenge Found in Denmark: A Link Between Denmark and Britain’s Neolithic Past

1 March 2025

1 March 2025

In a stunning revelation, archaeologists have unearthed a remarkable structure dubbed “woodhenge” in Denmark, a discovery that not only illuminates...

Beer remains that are 9,000 years old have been discovered in China’s unique Hu pots

3 September 2021

3 September 2021

Archaeologists in southeast China have discovered evidence of beer consumption in ceramic vessels at the burial site called Qiaotou. The...

An Amazing Discovery in the 1900-year-old Rock Church, – Sand Dollar Fossil

5 March 2024

5 March 2024

Located in the eastern province of Diyarbakır’s Eğil district, the rock church, the walls of which are decorated with different...

2,000-Year-Old Iron Age and Roman Treasures Found in Wales Could Point to an Unknown Roman Settlement

12 May 2023

12 May 2023

A metal detectorist found a pile of exceptionally preserved Roman and Iron Age objects buried 2,000 years ago in a...

The biblical narrative of Sodom may have been inspired by a cosmic meteorite that devastated an ancient city

21 September 2021

21 September 2021

The Bible account of Sodom’s destruction lies at the heart of classic “fire and brimstone” judgment day prophesies. But what...

9,500-Year-Old Public Building with Red Floor Unearthed at Çayönü Tepesi, Türkiye

7 September 2025

7 September 2025

Archaeologists have unearthed a 9,500-year-old public building with a striking red-painted floor at Çayönü Tepesi, one of the world’s most...

8,500-year-old marble statuette found in Çatalhöyük

28 December 2021

28 December 2021

In the 29th season of the excavations in Çatalhöyük, one of the first urbanization models in Anatolia, in the Çumra...

A 1,100-year-old lead amulet of Bulgarian soldiers sieges Constantinople found

31 March 2023

31 March 2023

A lead plate amulet bearing an inscription in Cyrillic dating from the times of Tsar Simeon the Great was discovered...