Rare Zapotec tomb unearthed in Mexico: Video
Mexican archaeologists have uncovered a remarkably well-preserved Zapotec tomb dating back to around AD 600 at Cerro de la Cantera, in the town of San Pablo Huitzo.
The discovery, announced on Friday, offers fresh insight into the beliefs, power structures and burial customs of one of Mesoamerica’s most influential pre-Hispanic civilisations. The tomb features an antechamber and a funerary chamber decorated with carved stone figures and vividly coloured mural paintings.
Among the most striking elements is an owl sculpture at the entrance, a Zapotec symbol linked to night and death, whose beak partially covers a human face believed to represent the tomb’s occupant. Inside, mural paintings rendered in red, blue, green, white and ochre are now being studied by specialists from Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH).
President Claudia Sheinbaum described the find as the country’s most significant archaeological discovery in a decade, highlighting its exceptional preservation and the cultural and symbolic information it provides about Zapotec society.
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