The snake’s head was made more than 500 years ago. At that time, the Aztecs controlled this region, which was part of the prosperous capital Tenochtitlan.

What is known

The statue was discovered following the 7.6 magnitude earthquake that occurred in Mexico City on September 19, 2022. A seismic event damaged the National Autonomous University of Mexico School of Law building, so when construction workers looked under the building, they found an unexpected artifact.

The find is impressive with its size: The snake statue is 1.8 meters long, 0.85 meters wide and 1 meter high. It weighs approximately 1.3 tons. Several colors have been preserved on it – red, blue, black and white. Color is preserved on approximately 80% of the surface. To protect it, the team lifted the snake’s head from underground with a crane and built a humidity chamber around it. This chamber allows the sculpture to gradually lose moisture while maintaining its color.

Aztec statue / Photo: LANCIC. UNAM

The Aztecs built temples and pyramids and worshiped many gods, including Quetzalcoatl, who was often depicted as a serpent. However, according to archaeologists, it is not clear whether this statue depicts him. Erica Robles Cortes of Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History said that although other snakehead statues were found in Tenochtitlan, this statue was particularly important because of the preserved colors.

Thanks to the context in which this work was discovered, and above all thanks to the great intervention of the conservator-restorers led by Maria Barajas, it was possible to stabilize the sculpture in a way that preserved the colors almost throughout it, which is extremely important because the colors helped us look at pre-Hispanic art from a different perspective,
– say archaeologists.

As scientists note, such statues were placed throughout the city center. They will continue to work at this facility next year.