３９年前に発見の金の延べ棒、スペイン人征服者の略奪品と判明　メキシコ

【メキシコ市ＡＦＰ＝時事】メキシコの首都メキシコ市にある公園で1981年に発見された金の延べ棒が、約500年前にスペイン人のエルナン・コルテスら征服者（コンキスタドール）が略奪した古代アステカ文明の財宝の一つであることが、新たな研究で明らかにされた。（写真はメキシコ市で1981年に発見された重さ1．93キロの金の延べ棒。メキシコ国立人類学歴史学研究所提供）
　１．９３キロの延べ棒は、メキシコ市中心部にあるアラメダ公園沿いの建設現場で、掘削作業中に建設作業員が発見した。
　その後３９年間、延べ棒の由来は謎に包まれたままだった。
　メキシコ国立人類学歴史学研究所（ＩＮＡＨ）は、特殊なＸ線によって延べ棒の出どころをようやく確認できたと発表。「悲しき夜」と呼ばれるコルテスの劇的かつ一時的な退却の際に略奪されたものだった。
　研究により、延べ棒の組成が同時期のアステカ文明の他の遺物と一致することが明らかになった。
　１５２０年６月３０日の夜、大勢の司祭や貴族が殺害されたことに憤慨していたアステカ人は、スペイン人征服者らを当時の首都テノチティトランから追い出した。
　この際に征服者たちは、略奪した持てる限りのアステカの財宝を手にして脱出。今回の延べ棒も一緒に持ち出されたとみられている。
　ＩＮＡＨは、「征服のエピソードの一つである『悲しき夜』は、今年人々に思い出されることだろう。この出来事の物質的証拠は一つだけあり、それが５００年前にテノチティトランの運河に沈んだこの延べ棒で、最近の分析により（スペイン人の）逃避行に由来するものであることが確認された」と述べた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/01/14-13:07）

A gold bar found in a Mexico City park in 1981 was part of the Aztec treasure looted by Hernan Cortes and the Spanish conquistadors 500 years ago, a new study says.
The 1.93-kilogram bar was found by a construction worker during excavations for a new building along the Alameda, a picturesque park in the heart of the Mexican capital.
For 39 years, its origins remained a mystery.
But thanks to specialized X-rays, Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) says it has now confirmed where the bar came from: the Spaniards' hasty, though temporary, retreat during the so-called Noche Triste, or Sad Night.
That night -- June 30, 1520 -- the Aztecs, furious over the slaughter of their nobles and priests, drove the Spanish invaders from their capital, Tenochtitlan.
The conquistadors escaped with as much looted Aztec treasure as they could carry, including, apparently, the gold bar in question.
The so-called 'Noche Triste' is among the episodes of the conquest that will be remembered this year, and there is only one piece of material evidence from it: a gold bar that sank 500 years ago in the canals of Tenochtitlan, and which recent analysis confirms came from the (Spaniards') flight, INAH said in a statement.
Cortes and his men received a wary welcome from Aztec emperor Moctezuma when they arrived in 1519, but soon became unwanted guests at the palace as they appropriated his treasure and turned him into a virtual hostage.
In June 1520, Cortes -- who had launched his expedition in Mexico without official authorization -- learned that the Spanish governor in Cuba had sent a party of soldiers to arrest him.
He left his lieutenant Pedro de Alvarado in charge at Tenochtitlan and went with part of his army to fight the arriving soldiers, ultimately defeating them.
While he was gone, however, Alvarado began to fear the Aztecs would attack him, and had their nobles and priests killed.
The Aztecs revolted, and the Spaniards retreated -- apparently losing the gold bar along the way.
The study found the bar's composition matched that of other Aztec pieces from the period.
This bar is a key piece in the puzzle of this historical event, INAH said.