A 2,500-year-old burial of three individuals buried with various grave goods has been discovered in a cave in northeastern Mexico. In a statement made by Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), it was stated that analysis of the skeletal remains showed that two of the people were young and one was an infant. The statement said the discovery of baskets, textiles and fiber remains alongside human remains suggests that the dead may have been buried in piles of these materials in what is now the Mexican state of Nuevo León.

The remains were found in fragments and may have been ritually dismembered; however, a detailed osteological analysis was not performed.

INAH archaeologist Moises Valadez Moreno, who excavated the remains, told Live that the dead were also buried with beads made from freshwater shells, some of which came 300 kilometers east towards the Gulf of Mexico. In an e-mail sent to Science, it was noted that seeds, clues and plant remains were also found.

The statement stated that the human remains date back to approximately 3,000 to 2,500 years ago. This window includes what archaeologists sometimes refer to as the “Preclassic” period in Mexico. During this time, peoples living in northern Mexico engaged in long-distance trade and lived a diverse life, including hunting, gathering, and growing crops, historians Alfredo López Austin and Leonardo López Luján write in their book “Indigenous History of Mexico” (University of Mexico). He writes that he continues the style. Oklahoma Press, 2001).

The relationship between the three men found in the cave remains unclear; Valadez Moreno said osteological and DNA studies are needed to determine this. The close proximity of the remains and their location in the same soil layer indicate that the three men may have died at almost the same time. Valadez Moreno said it is unclear how all three people died, but future analysis may shed light on that.

INAH said in a statement that excavations at the cave began in 2003 and since then nearly 30,000 artifacts and ecofacts (biological remains that may have been used by humans) have been discovered.