VALPARAISO, MEXICO—An undisturbed shaft tomb in southern Zacatecas has been excavated by a team led by Laura Solar of the National Institute of Anthropology and History. They found the remains of 28 individuals, including two adolescents and eight infants; three snail shells, two of which had been modified to act as trumpets; a shell bracelet; and millions of beads. Some of the dead had been armed for battle. “We don’t know if the other individuals were placed simultaneously. There is a discussion to whether or not the shaft tombs contain the remains of sacrificed people; those who died in a simultaneous event; if they are consecutive burials of people related to each other or people with a similar sociopolitical statues,” Solar told Art Daily. Some of the artifacts suggest that the inhabitants of southern Zacatecas participated in trade along the Pacific coast.
