the other hand, Rubén G. Mendoza contends that the was placed on an east–west axis between the Templo Mayor and a principal ball court. The Hueyi Tzompantli would have been aligned with the marker within the Templo Mayor dividing one half for Tlāloc and the other half for . Mendoza argues that as the sun traveled through the sky, it would have ascended into the "vault of the heavens", represented by the . Modern archeological evidence has found that this large palisade was flanked by two circular towers made out of skulls and mortar. Historical depictions There are numerous depictions of in Aztec codices, dating from around the time or shortly after the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, such as the Durán Codex, Ramírez Codex, and Codex Borgia. The Codex Mendoza contains multiple depictions of . The Frontispiece of the Codex Mendoza depicts a holding single skull next to an eagle perched on a cactus. A similar depiction of a is used to represent the town of Tzompanco in the Codex Mendoza. Folio 45v of the Codex Borgia depicts a platform adorned with skulls. Recent excavations Archaeologists affiliated with the National Institute of Anthropology and History have taken part in a series of excavations since 2015 that have resulted in the finding of . These excavations took place near the Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral and included the finding of one tower. These excavations have revealed that women and children were sacrificed, although men made up 75% of the sacrificial victims. Association and meaning Apart from their use to display the skulls of ritualistically-executed war captives, often occur in the contexts of Mesoamerican ball courts, which were widespread throughout the region's civilizations and sites. The game was 'played for keeps' ending with the losing team being sacrificed. The captain of the winning team was tasked with taking the head of the losing team's captain to be displayed on a . In these contexts it appears that the was used to display the losers' heads of this often highly ritualised game. Not all games resulted in this outcome, however, and for those that did it is surmised that these participants were often notable captives. An alternative theory is that it was the captain of the winning team who lost his head, but there is little evidence that this was the case. Still, it is acknowledged that in Mesoamerican culture to be