Mexican experts have found the first temple of the Flayed Lord, a pre-Hispanic fertility god depicted as a skinned human corpse, authorities said Wednesday.
Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History said the find was made during recent excavations of Popoloca Indian ruins in the central state of Puebla.
The institute said experts found two skull-like stone carvings and a stone trunk depicting the god, Xipe Totec. It had an extra hand dangling off one arm, suggesting the god was wearing the skin of a sacrificial victim.
Priests worshipped Xipe Totec by skinning victims and then donning their skins.
The Popolocas built the temple between A.D. 1000 and 1260 and were later conquered by the Aztecs.
Depictions of the god had been found before in other cultures, but not a whole temple.
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