Malinalco - Building III

(Local Name: Edificio III) North-east of the House of the Eagle and to the north of Building II lies Building III, consisting of an antechamber and a round chamber containing an altar hollowed out of the rock. This was probably a tzincalli, a temple in which the "messenger of the Sun" - a warrior killed in battle or sacrificed by the enemies of the Aztecs - was cremated and "deified". The Aztecs believed that the souls of warriors killed in this way became stars. In the ante-chamber can be seen the remains of interesting frescos, probably depicting warriors who had already been transformed into stars.