NUEVO LEÓN, MEXICO—Live Science reports that the 2,500-year-old burials of two adolescents and a baby have been found in a cave chamber in northeastern Mexico. Traces of basketry, textiles, and possible cotton fibers were found in the burials, suggesting that the remains, which were found in pieces, may have been interred in bundles. Moisés Valadez Moreno of Mexico’s National Institute of History and Anthropology (INAH) said that beads made from freshwater shells, spear points, and plant remains were also recovered from the burials. The shells likely came from the area of the Gulf of Mexico, some 180 miles away, he explained. Additional study of the bones may reveal the children’s cause of death, if they died at the same time, if the bodies had been ritually dismembered, and if the three individuals were related to each other. To read about a rare kind of mass grave unearthed in southern Mexico City, go to "Circle of Life."
