Underwater archaeologists exploring the depths of Mexico’s Lake Pátzcuaro have identified a submerged ritual cache of twelve obsidian mirrors and a carved basalt altar. The artifacts are stylistically linked to Teotihuacan’s peak influence (c. 400 CE), suggesting the lake was a major pilgrimage site for Central Mexican elites long before the Purépecha Empire.
The mirrors, perfectly preserved in the anaerobic lake mud, were found arranged in a precise star pattern around the central altar. This discovery provides the first direct archaeological evidence of Teotihuacan’s ritual and political expansion into the Western Michoacán region, highlighting a much wider sphere of influence than previously documented.