Unlocking long-sealed cave may solve Mexican pyramid mystery

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A team of archaeologists are all set to open a long-sealed cave under a Mexican pyramid in the hope that it will unlock the mystery of one of ancient civilization's greatest cities - Teotihuacan. At its zenith between 150 AD and 450 AD, Teotihuacan was home to up to 200,000 people of various ethnic origins and thought to have been larger than any European city at the time, including Rome.

With its soaring stone pyramids and geometric temples, Teotihuacan was once the biggest city in the Americas and possibly the world.

But, sometime in the 7th or 8th century, it was set ablaze - possibly as the result of an insurrection - and abandoned.

The Aztecs believed the city was divine and identified it with the place where the sun was created.

According to a report in the Telegraph, the tunnel entrance was discovered by accident in 1971 while workmen were installing a sound and light show.After initial tests, it was dismissed as a natural cave and sealed two years later.Hundreds of Mexicans still gather at the Pyramid of the Sun to receive energy from the sun during spring equinox.

However, experts have never been able to say with certainty who built it and why it was suddenly abandoned.

Now, an international team of experts believes the answer may lie under the Pyramid of the Sun, the centre point of the vast ruined city 25 miles outside Mexico City. At the end of this month, they are to investigate a man-made tunnel and cave system underneath the pyramid - the third biggest in the world - to test theories that it was used for rituals including human sacrifice. - dailyindia