Aerial photographs of unexplored rain forests in southeastern Mexico led archaeologist Ivan Sprajc to a previously unknown Maya city. Dubbed Chactun, or “red stone,” the site flourished from A.D. 600 to 900, and features three pyramid complexes ranging across 54 acres. Once at the site, Sprajc’s team also found 19 stelae, including one with an inscription stating that it was erected on May 3, A.D. 751.

Sprajc expects to uncover more inscriptions, but he is also interested in the “afterlife” of the stelae, which were moved after Chactun’s heyday. “Some we even found upside down,” he says. “This reflects activity on the site after its period of splendor.” He hopes studying the ways the monuments were reused will help his team understand the events that led to the city’s decline.

Archaeologists investigating the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán in Mexico have discovered that more than 400 animal species were systematically deposited there as offerings to the gods. According to Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History, the animals were found in 60 ritual burials, dating from 1440 to 1520, located within the Sacred Precinct, outside the Templo Mayor. The assortment of species—ranging from big cats and eagles to crocodiles and shellfish—were dedicated to the Aztec gods Tlaloc and Huitzilopochtli, whose twin shrines stood atop the temple. While mollusks and fish comprise the majority of the specimens, the collection is highlighted by 13 pumas, two jaguars, and six wolves. There is evidence the Aztecs practiced a form of taxidermy to ensure the more important animal offerings maintained their shape and beauty. The finds demonstrate that the Aztecs of Tenochtitlán participated in broad exchange systems, as many of the specimens were not local, but were acquired through trade or tribute. These included fauna from tropical rain forests, including jaguars, quetzals, crocodiles, and snakes, and many species of fish and mollusks imported from reefs in the Atlantic Ocean, more than 100 miles away. 

No one can dig at Epiacum, one of the best-preserved Roman forts in Britain, without special permission, but moles have little regard for the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act of 1979. The small mammals can dig dozens of feet of tunnels a day through farm, forest, or archaeological site. Volunteers working with Paul Frodsham, an archaeologist with the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, are now sifting through the molehills the critters leave outside their tunnels for pieces of pottery, glass, and other items from the second to fourth centuries. Frodsham wants to be able to learn how buildings were used at the fort, which has not seen archaeological investigation in more than 50 years. “I realize it sounds a bit ridiculous,” he says, “but it’s actually quite serious.”