偉大的考古發現似乎總是和巧合分不開，總是要幾分運氣。要去挖井的農夫發現了秦始皇陵，而一個地震可能揭露一個阿茲提克文明國王的陵墓。
蒙特祖馬二世（Montesuma II或Moctezuma，中文譯名或作「蒙特蘇馬」，約生於1475年，卒於1520年），古代墨西哥阿茲提克的特諾奇提特蘭君主。他曾一度稱霸中美洲，卻因為他以為被西班牙征服者是羽蛇神（Quetzalcoatl）*1 的後裔*2，而讓西班牙人進城（Tenotchitlan）*3 來，最後為荷南·科爾蒂斯（Hernán Cortés）所收服，導致阿茲提克文明滅亡。
由於阿茲提克沒有遺留下文字，所以歷史是由西班牙人來寫的。考古的發現將是跳脫基督教文名來檢視阿茲提克文明的最佳方式了。
當年去西班牙時，去了比薩羅 (Francisco Pizarro, 秘魯的征服者) 的故鄉特魯希由(Trujillo)，但沒有造訪在賽維亞 (Sevilla) 旁的小城 Castilleja de la Cuesta,荷南·科爾蒂斯的故鄉。Pizarro 一手毀了印加帝國，Cortés 消滅了阿茲提克帝國。這些人或許是西班牙的英雄，但是對印地安人而言，無疑地，他們是劊子手。所以我們以前念的歷史課本中的開疆闢土的英雄，其實也是別人眼中的劊子手囉！歷史是屬於勝利者的，但願考古能還原部分事實。
神話傳說、文明的興亡、發展的困境與挑戰一直是我很感興趣的題目。神話有其天馬行空的想像或象徵式的解釋、合理化事實的脈絡。湯恩比 (Arnold Toynbee, 1889-1975) 的挑戰與回應（Challenge and Response）指出了一個比傳統儒家道德式的解釋，或鄒衍的「五德終始說」更能令人信服的詮釋方法。－－科爾蒂斯和比薩羅帶給阿茲提克與印加帝國的挑戰是印第安人所無法回應的。
這些出土的文物或許可以讓世人了解除了精確的天文、數學、建築與殘忍的活人獻祭之外， 阿茲提克的其他面貌。
Remarks:
1.羽蛇神 Quetzalcoatl (Quetzalcatl) - 承襲自 Teotihuacan 和 Toltec 的風和空氣之神，亦象徵生命和繁殖，在創造大地、太陽和人類中扮演重要角色，形象是一條披著鵑鳥 quetzal 羽毛的蛇。
2.從 Toltec 神話開始，已預言諸神「白色之子」Quetzalcoatl 的使者會有一天從海上回來，重奪國家統治權。公元 1519 年，果然有一位皮膚白晢的西班牙大賊 Cortes 聯同一夥人在墨西哥灣登陸，被當時的阿茲提克的國王 Moctezuma 二世誤認是羽蛇神的化身，恭迎他們到首都 Tenochitlan。
3. 阿茲提克人利用填湖的方法把 Tenochtitlan 漸漸擴大，水道和橋樑把小島和湖岸連接起來。隨著阿茲提克的壯大，Tenochtitlan 也變得愈來愈繁榮，城內的建築物和神廟也愈來愈高大宏偉。當 1519 年西班牙人來到時，Tenochtitlan 已是一座 60,000 人口的大城市，西班牙人亦認為它比當時任何一座歐洲的城市更美麗更繁華。
source: http://maya.go2c.info/civilizations/aztec.htm
From The Times
11-Jun-09
Aztec temple promises to yield one of antiquity’s great treasures
Nancy Durrant and Ben Hoyle
Archaeologists working amid the smog and din of Mexico City may be on the verge of unlocking an extraordinary time capsule.
din vt, vi, n. 發喧鬧[嘈雜]聲;絮聒不休地說話;嘈雜聲;鼓噪聲
The leaders of a team exploring
a site opened up by earthquake damage believe that
they have found the first tomb of an Aztec ruler. If they are right the site may yield one of the great treasures of antiquity,
the sort of haul that fires the imagination of people far beyond academic circles. None of the finds has been put on public display but Britain will get an early preview. Fourteen gold objects from the site will feature in the British Museum’s exhibition on
Moctezuma II, the last great Aztec ruler. These could prove to be the early pickings of a much richer harvest. Colin McEwan, head of the British Museum’s Americas section, said: “There is no question that this has the potential to be a once-in-a-generation find”.
Montezuma II (or Moctezuma) was trained as a priest and rose tobecome leader of the Aztecs in 1502. At the time the Aztecs controlledmost of what is now Mexico and Central America, their capital being atthe great city of Tenotchitlan (Mexico City). The story goes that whenCortes arrived in 1519, Montezuma thought the Spanish conquerors weredescendants of the god Quetzalcoatl. Montezuma allowed the Spaniards toenter Tenotchitlan unopposed, and he was captured and held hostage byCortes. Montezuma was either killed by a rock in the head from a crowdof his own people, or he was stabbed by the Spaniards, depending on whotells the story.
The dig is in the middle of what was the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan.
Near by stands the Catedral Metropolitana de la Asunción de María, which was built from the stones of Moctezuma’s Templo Mayor, which was destroyed by the Spanish in 1521. The temple’s ruins were subsequently lost for nearly five centuries and discovered only by accident in 1978. Colonial buildings built around it made further exploration difficult but an earthquake in 1985 cleared the way for the present dig.
(Handout)A serpent that will form part of the exhibition
| A mask from the site that is to feature in the Moctezuma exhibition at the British Museum |
The new finds appear to be offerings left at the entrance to a tomb. Among them is a fearsome stone sculpture of
Tlaltecuhtli, goddess of the Earth. Dr Lorenzo López Luján, who discovered it, thinks that it is a capstone to a burial chamber. When archaeologists moved the sculpture in 2007 they found
four containers filled with more than 3,000 items, including animal skeletons, a fire god sculpture, blocks of incense and wooden masks.
Next to this they detected what looks like an entrance. Electronic checks indicate that there is an anomaly beyond it, which
Dr López Luján believes is a royal tomb, although some suggest it may be the equivalent of an ancient Greek bothro, where offerings to the underworld were placed. anomaly n. 1. 不規則;反常;不規則; [例外]的事物[現象]
2. [生] (同一種類中的)畸形,變異型
3. [理‧氣] 偏差 4. [天] 近點角,近點距離
"bothro" of bothrodesy descends from the Greek word βoθρoς (bothros) meaning “garbage pit”
Gold was not especially significant for the Aztecs in religious terms but it was associated with the nobility, another hint that there is a ruler behind the entrance. It won’t be Moctezuma, who was killed in 1520, but it could be his predecessor, Ahuitzotl, who ruled from 1486 to 1502.
The archaeologists found several plaster seals, which means that the site has not been looted. Between the seals there are several offerings blocking the entrance, including the skeleton of a
dog, an animal that traditionally led the dead to the afterlife. “This is a good signal that under these offerings we will find a royal tomb,” Dr López Luján said. “In more than 30 years of excavating this site this is totally new.”
Just how rich a seam they have hit will become clear over the next year, probably within months.
Moctezuma: Aztec Ruler runs from September 24 to January 24, 2010. To book tickets visit www.britishmuseum.org
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article6474037.ece
The story was taken from The Times. The copyright remains with its original owners. The authors and The Times are not involved with, nor endorse the production of this blog.
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