MEXICO CITY.- Beneath highways, inside caves, across deserts, and deep within the tropical lowlands, archaeologists spent 2025 uncovering traces of Mexico’s distant past that continue to reshape what we know about ancient societies. The year proved to be one of steady and revealing progress for the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH), whose work produced discoveries that both filled historical gaps and raised new questions.

One of the most striking concentrations of finds came from the state of Guerrero. In April, archaeologists working in the Tlayócoc cave, in the municipality of Carrizal de Bravo, recovered 14 pre-Hispanic objects dating to the Postclassic period. Shell bracelets, a large marine conch, and stone discs were found together in a context that researchers believe may be linked to fertility rituals practiced by the Tlacotepehua people, an ethnic group that disappeared centuries ago.

Later in the year, another site in Guerrero drew attention. Along the Costa Chica, archaeologists documented Paso Temprano—also known as Corral de Piedra—a remarkably well-preserved settlement dating back some 1,200 years. Stretching more than a kilometer, the site includes palace-like structures, a ball court, defensive walls, and evidence of a socially stratified community. Ongoing analysis aims to explain both how the site functioned and why it was eventually abandoned.

Elsewhere, chance encounters played a key role. In Coahuila, a citizen report led to the rescue of a burial assemblage from desert cultures more than 500 years old. Initial studies revealed the remains of at least 17 individuals, including a child, offering a rare glimpse into funerary practices in one of Mexico’s harshest environments.

In the southeast, infrastructure projects linked to the Maya Train continued to yield unexpected discoveries. In Yucatán, archaeologists identified what may be a symbolic entrance marker at Sierra Papacal—possibly representing an elderly ruler and dating back to the Preclassic period. Nearby, in Quintana Roo, a globular ceramic vessel decorated with black geometric designs was recovered from the Garra de Jaguar cave system, preserved with its handles intact after centuries underground.

The Maya region closed the year with renewed attention on Aguada Fénix, in Tabasco. New research supported the idea that the massive site was conceived as a cosmogram—a symbolic model of the universe. A ritual deposit found within a cruciform structure, containing pigments made from minerals such as azurite and malachite, may represent the earliest known example of directional color symbolism in Mesoamerica.

Even Mexico City revealed new secrets. In the Guerrero neighborhood, archaeologists uncovered Late Postclassic domestic remains and burials linked to ancient Tlatelolco. The absence of colonial layers makes the find especially valuable, helping researchers refine the historical boundaries of the island city and better understand everyday life in the area now known as La Lagunilla.

Historical archaeology also made headlines. In Veracruz, public works exposed two cannons believed to have defended the port during Mexico’s 19th-century conflicts with France and the United States. Meanwhile, studies of rock art in Puebla, cremation sites in Sinaloa, and skeletal remains in Tamaulipas—including a previously undocumented form of cranial modification—rounded out a year of discoveries.