VERACRUZ.- Specialists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) made the archaeological rescue of a settlement south of Veracruz, which could be over 2,000 years old. Here they found 30 pre hispanic burials accompanied by offerings and a great quantity of animal remains and fossils. Near the site, they also located a pyramid structure and a brick workshop, this last one has characteristics resembling the Mayan site of Comalcalco in Tabasco.

Alfredo Delgado, archaeologist of INAH and responsible of the rescue in the municipality of Jaltipan, informed that this place was recently used for building coque (derived from petroleum), which is why they proceeded to inspect the site.

Upon a review of the surface, they found a few materials, which is why archaeologists started digging 80 centimeters [31.49 inches]. That was when they found great quantities of osseous remains accompanied by offerings that contained animal bones, jade beads, mirrors –possibly made of pirita [a kind of mineral]– and figurines of teotihuacan, Mayan, Nahua, Popoluca origin along with Remojada culture (from the center of Veracruz), which is why they immediately proceeded to rescue the materials.

This could have been a sanctuary where people surrounding the area buried their dead, a marketplace or a reining center where diverse cultures would meet, whose occupation could have been since the begging of our era through 700 AD.

“The salvage has great value not only because of the great number of skeletons that were found, but also because of the fossils that appeared, and which were brought to the center of the country since they are not from this region. Among the osseous remains we found large bones and big teeth, possibly from pre historic camelids or small rhinoceros, fossilized shark teeth, possibly from a Megalodon –extinct over 10 thousand years ago–, and a tiger shark, which still exists”, detailed archaeologist Delgado.

In a hillock nearby, archaeologists found a pyramid covered in limestone which had a substructure similar to the Mayan’s or Tajin, which means it was made with sandstone. The pyramid becomes relevant because it’s the first time they discover stone structures in the south of Veracruz. “We though there was nothing but tamp down dirt. In the 500 sites registered in this part of the state, it was only in Los Tuxtlas and in Sierra de Santa Marta that they’d found monuments with stone balls, but in this case they are very well worked sandstones”.