Sunday, July 1, 2018
Graves discovered in southern Mexico City are 2,700 years old They were found between 1.2 and 3.3 meters below street level; about 20 are perfectly conserved
A skeleton found inside one of the graves.Graves discovered in southern Mexico City are 2,700 years old
They were found between 1.2 and 3.3 meters below street level; about 20 are perfectly conserved
Experts from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) have discovered 26 ancient graves dating back 2,700 years at a site in Mexico City.
Located in the south of the capital and adjoining a modern-day cemetery, the site measures 360 square meters and archaeologists believe that it might have been used by women for activities related to the care of infants.
During excavations over the last four months, the INAH team has found the graves at depths between 1.2 and 3.3 meters below street level. About 20 of them are in a perfect state of conservation.
“Until now, we have detected four stages of settlement; four historical periods linked to the start of the 20th century, the Porfiriato [the period of more than three decades when former president Porfirio Díaz was in power], Mexico’s independence and the pre-Hispanic period,” said Antonio Balcorta Yépez, an INAH archaeologist working on the project.
Of the 26 graves found, 11 are in the form of a truncated cone, while the archaeologists have also found vestiges of walls from pre-Hispanic structures.
“We’ve made a series of discoveries that have revolutionized the knowledge we had about graves in the pre-classic period. The context suggests to us that we are at a village where they carried out specialized activities. The height [of the site and] its geographical and strategic position indicates to us that the people [who lived on] this hill may have had greater control over certain resources compared to the village of Copilco,” Balcorta said.
Truncated cone graves were not only used for funeral purposes but also to store grains, artifacts and waste materials, he explained.
However, there is also evidence that indicates that at least two of the graves may have been used by women for everyday activities related to caring for their children, such as giving an herbal steam bath to a newborn baby.
That theory is supported by the discovery of more than 130 figurines in the graves, most of which represent pregnant women, while a smaller number are of infants. The ceramic pieces feature red, yellow and black colorings on their different body parts.
The INAH team has extracted samples from different parts of the graves to carry out chemical and pollen analyses aimed at confirming or rejecting the perinatal care hypothesis.
The archaeologists have also made discoveries from more recent times including remnants of ammunition used in the Mexican revolution and parts of adobe bricks and other building materials that formed part of a house that stood on the site at the end of the 19th century.
Because it is 2,296 meters above sea level, it is believed that the site was not affected by lava flows following the eruption of the Xitle Volcano between 245 and 315 AD and for that reason it has remained in well-conserved condition.
Source: Milenio (sp)
Woman suffers extensive injuries after parasailing disaster in Puerto Vallarta Boat flips in storm, towline breaks and tourist has wild, 45-minute ride
Katie Malone and brother Brendan.Woman suffers extensive injuries after parasailing disaster in Puerto Vallarta
Boat flips in storm, towline breaks and tourist has wild, 45-minute ride
A woman suffered severe injuries in a parasailing accident earlier this month in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, when a storm came up, flipped the tow boat and snapped the towline.
Katie Malone was celebrating her 29th birthday in the Pacific coast tourist destination when the freak accident occurred during the 10-minute parasailing excursion.
After an approaching storm brought strong winds and turned the boat over, Malone spent the next 45 minutes being whipped through the air at the mercy of intense gusts of wind.
Malone’s brother Brendan said in an interview that the men operating the boat quickly took off.
“We’re beyond unhappy,” he said. “Those guys left the scene of the crime. They flipped the boat back over and . . . bailed while my sister was floating away.”
When Malone finally crash-landed near the city’s airport, she suffered cuts to her face, a fractured pelvis and skull, four broken ribs and a collapsed and bleeding lung.
“It’s one of those calls you never want to take and of course you’re thinking the worst,” said Katie’s father, Kelly Malone, when he received the news.
An online fundraising campaign was created to help pay for an air ambulance back to the United States and as of this morning, nearly US $50,000 had been raised.
Former U.S. Rep. Duncan L. Hunter also helped make financial arrangements for the family.
“Once we got him involved, everything just went real smooth. He had some contacts. I believe he even contacted the consulate in Washington D.C. and then after that everything just went really, super fast,” Kelly Malone said.
After undergoing several surgeries and spending the last few weeks in a Jalisco hospital, Katie Malone was flown to San Antonio, Texas, on Tuesday, where she will undergo further treatment.
Doctors believe she will make a full recovery, but she isn’t expected to walk again for months.
“She is a miracle, she is progressing way quicker than most people expected her to, on so many levels,” her brother said. “She’s great, she’s a fighter, and she is not giving up.”
The parasailing company hired by Malone is currently under investigation by the state Attorney General’s office.
Source: WLKY (en), Vallarta Independiente (sp)
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