When the Dead Come Home

An altar for the Day of the Dead, known as an Altar de Muertos, stands outside a house during celebrations on November 2, 2025, in San Andrés Mixquic, Mexico. Photo by Jan Sochor-Getty ImagesLong before the rise of the Aztec Empire, death and remembrance occupied important places in Mesoamerican life. At Teōtīhuacān, the great city that flourished in central Mexico roughly a millennium before the Aztecs founded Tenochtitlan, archaeological discoveries reveal deeply rooted beliefs surrounding