In Mexico, archaeologists have discovered a 1,500-year-old human remains burial with bones of the deceased piled, presumably as a ceremonial practice.
According to a translated statement from Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), the pre-Hispanic discovery was uncovered during a sewer system building operation at Pozo de Ibarra in the western Mexican state of Nayarit, according to Live Science.
One whole skeleton was found in the burial, together with other people's human remains. Field archaeologist Claudia Servín Rosas, who led the excavation, stated in the statement that some of the bones were purposefully stacked and divided into different categories, with seven complete skulls in one section and long bones like tibias (lower leg bones) and femurs (thigh bones) in another.
All of the skulls belonged to individuals of different ages, according to an investigation, and some of the specimens had cranial alteration, which was common in Mesoamerica.
Researchers discovered that the burial rites were evocative of comparable customs carried out throughout the Amapa era, which spanned from AD 500 to 850, and that the bones were buried concurrently.
According to the Miami Herald, ceramic utensils and figures discovered at the site also assisted researchers in connecting the burial to this era.
Additionally, as per the Servín Rosas, the burial may have been a component of family funerary customs, when males were buried to mark the founding of a new community. Nevertheless, the statement claims that no additional records of comparable behaviours exist in the area.
Together with the local officials, the Inah is preserving the remains for upcoming research.