Five starfish in a highly elaborate ritual deposit at the Toltec site of Tula have been found – an exhibition of how central the ocean and its creatures were to the economy, religion, and artistic practices of pre-Hispanic times. Subject of a recent study, specialists and archaeologists alike focused on a group of calcareous plates discovered in the 1990s, found in a ritual deposit at the Burned Palace structure. They’ve been dated to between 950 and 1000 AD. The Tula Archaeological Zone in Hidalgo is under investigation by specialists from Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) and the Institute of Marine Sciences and Limnology (ICML) at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. The aforementioned calcareous plates (which are the bony structures made of calcium carbonate that form the skeleton of many marine invertebrates) have long been suspected to be remains of echinoderms - a variety of marine species that include sea stars, sea cucumbers, brittle stars, and urchins. These finds have been published in the latest edition of Mexican Archaeology (Arquelogica Mexica). Biggest Aztec Starfish Altar Ever, Found in Templo Mayor, Mexico City! Toltecs: Fierce Warriors Who Changed the Face of Mesoamerica for Good Read moreSection: ArtifactsOther ArtifactsNewsHistory & ArchaeologyAncient PlacesAmericasRead Later