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The House of the Eagles
The House of the Eagles, also known as the "Palace of the Eagle Warriors," is one of the most impressive religious buildings discovered in the area that once was the Sacred Zone of Mexico-Tenochtitlan. Since 1981, the year it was uncovered, this most important Mexica construction has been the scene of intensive archaeological work by the Templo Mayor Project of the National Institute of Anthropology and History. (figure 2) (figure 3). Thanks to the explorations of José Francisco Hinojosa (1981-82) we know that it consists of an enormous L-shaped platform, whose stairs were decorated with two sculptures in the form of eagle heads.
There is an older substructure located within this platform that, it seems, is contemporary with Stage IVb of the Templo Mayor (c. 1469 AD). This substructure consists of various internal rooms in an excellent state of preservation. We know that in the prehispanic era one entered this substructure by means of two staircases that ascended from the plaza to a spacious portico supported by a colonnade. In order to reach the main room one had to enter through a door guarded by two life-sized ceramic sculptures representing individuals dressed in eagle costumes. From the main room, which contained a large altar, one passed through a narrow corridor protected by two skeletal figures, also ceramic, before reaching a rectangular patio bordered by two rooms. Within each of them was a small altar and a pair of ceramic braziers decorated with the faces oftlaloque shedding tears.
Almost all the interior walls of the House of the Eagles are decorated with beautiful paintings on earth and with long polychrome benches. These benches are composed of two panels. The upper one is a frieze made up of undulating serpents en bas-relief. The lower panel shows processions of armed warriors converging on a zacatapayolli, a grass ball into which the Mexica stuck bloody lancets during the ritual of autosacrifice. The rich iconography on the benches indicates that the offering of blood was one of the principal ceremonies carried out in this building. The benches are, furthermore, a magnificent example of the Mexica taste for imitating the artistic styles of civilizations several centuries older, such as the Toltecs and the Teotihuacanos. In this case, we are confronted with a revival of the Burnt Palace, one of the many buildings that the Mexica excavated in what were already the ruins of Tula.
Thanks to the joint collaboration of INAH, the National Autonomous University of Mexico, and Princeton University, we have been able to continue our work in the House of the Eagles. During the last two field seasons (1991-92 and 1994-96) our small team of archaeologists, biologists, chemists and restorers have initiated new studies focused on deciphering the religious significance and functions of the building.
Because the House of the Eagles is now partially buried beneath the street of Justo Sierra, it was decided to excavate two long tunnels under the tourist walkway in the archaeological zone (figure 4). After months of hard work two very large new rooms were exposed. The rooms are decorated with mural paintings and contain more than 30 meters of benches with a multicolor painting almost intact (figure 5).
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Last Modified: November 30, 2000
Museo del Templo Mayor, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e História, México.
Seminario #8, Centro Histórico, Cuauhtémoc, México, D.F. 06060
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