If you refer to the desire to visit what is called the Tumba de Moctezuma, it is what is called a tetele. That is a built up mound thingie and does not resemble a grave at all.
I thought I did give that report several years ago.
In this location it is believed there was before Cortes an established trade route from far away to Tenochtitlan, the Aztec name for what is today the center of Mexico City.
They did take me up there, friends did. Looking at it, I believe it is not a grave at all. Standing up on top and looking around, I think it was an observation place, and when it was abandoned they covered it with dirt and rocks. There are a number of teteles in this region. It would not go well with anyone tearing into them to see what is there. That is an accepted part of local culture.
The uncle who owns the place where I (at least at this moment
) believe the treasure is buried also owns a tetele on his property. At one point, someone obtained permission to dig into it. They found something, no one will tell me what it was, that prompted him to change his mind. No more digging. My guess is they found human remains, but that is totally a wild guess. Human remains are the one thing that would cause him to turn them off. Skeletons have been found very close to the tetele in the past.
Back to the Tumba de Moctezum, standing on top of it, it supplies a perfect view into the distance, miles away. There is the ruin of a local ancient fort not far away. It is open to the public, but is guarded and those who damage things will be severely punished. It was an overnight place for caravans passing through here. Pay for an overnight stay and protection against bandits, or be set upon by bandits. The universal protection racket, the same in all times and all places, I guess.
So, I think this was actually a stand for men to watch for caravans, and not a grave at all.
There are in the general region other built up mounds referred to as teteles. One is in plain sight on a signifcant rural highway. No one knows what they were used for. The only reason I believe the so-called Tomb was an observation tower was the tremendous view matching what is known of local history of that period.
What is under the dirt, no one knows. They did not have cement at that time, but they did have what we call quick lime. If you heat limestone, or in this case travertine marble which is a form of limestone, to around 600 degrees (you can find the temperature needed for quick lime with Google) you end up with quick lime. If you go at least twice that high, (also see Google) you can get cement. Quicklime can be made with a normal fire and a good draft of air. Within a half mile of the 'Tomb' there is a lime oven, with ventilation holes coming in from the bottom.
With quicklime you are normally limited to a mortar mix. Think stucco, not concrete. On the side of the tetele mound are a few places where it looks like they put a mortar mix. Feels like concrete but clearly is not. I did not break loose a piece for legal reasons. But, I have found stuff outside the protected archaeological zone that a cousin says is ancient mortar mix. They mixed it with small uniform pebbles found on major ant hills in the region.
To make it clear, I do not think the so-called Tomb of Moctezuma has anything to do with Moctezuma. I explained this in detail on other threads. They were in the region of a conquered people, and anything important had to be buried in a place where the locals could not see it being buried. Which is why I think the treasure is in the house itself
