Created: Thursday, 17 January 2013 12:50

VALENCIA, SPAIN—A study of rare prehispanic cosmetics found in funerary pots at Teotihuacan has shown that they were used in rituals to decorate deceased nobility buried under the floor. “The priest would go to the home and would pay homage to the deceased with the family present. Cosmetics were used by the priest carrying out the ceremony and formed a part of the ritual,” said María Teresa Domenech Carbo of the Polytechnic University of Valencia. Some of the pigments had been imported from other regions. “No surprise since this city dominated the entire Mesoamerican region,” added the archaeologist.