2,000-Year-Old Grave Site, Mysterious Settlement Unearthed in Mexico

Construction workers in Mexico stumbled upon a mysterious ancient settlement with a pyramid, as well as artifacts and remains of what is believed to be a 2,000-year-old archaeological find, NBC News reported.

At Jaltipan, near Veracruz, Mexico, archaeologists have reported finding artifacts of animal and human remains, along with beads, clay figurines, and mirrors, said the National Anthropology and History Institute (INAH).

The initial studies show that the mysterious civilization may have existed around the first century A.D. until around 700 A.D. There is little information about the people who lived at the location. At the moment, archaeologists are studying the skulls and skeletons found at the site to determine how they were buried, including information about their anatomy.

"All that is known so far is that of the 30 burials, two at least belong to infants," INAH archaeologist Alfredo Delgado said in a statement.

NBC News also reported: "Deer antlers and bones that may belong to dogs, coyotes, deer, fish and birds were buried with the bodies, perhaps as animal companions for the underworld, the researchers said. There's also evidence that the inhabitants of the site were fossil collectors; among the numerous prehistoric remains were the fossilized teeth of a long extinct Megalodon-type shark,"

Some evidence at the site also suggests that there was more than one culture represented in the area. "Some figurines and brickwork look Mayan, while there was also pottery that looks like it came from ancient city of Teotihuacan," NBC News added.

"Analyses will enable us to see whether this site was multicultural, as is indicated by the materials found, or whether the inhabitants were all of the same genetic type," INAH's Delgado said.

Meanwhile, the pyramid near the burial site is reportedly comprised of stone slabs and measures some 12 meters tall. "While pre-Columbian stone monuments have been found in Los Tuxtlas and the Sierra de Santa Marta, archaeologists say this type of ancient stone architecture has rarely been found in the southern part of the state of Veracruz," NBC News wrote.

To add to the site's multicultural mystery, NBC News also said that some bricks found in the area have been said to resemble some bricks found in Comacalco, a Mayan City found some 120 kilometers from the Tabasco region.