Mysterious ‘cloud people’ finding is archaeological ‘discovery of the decade’
It belonged to the Zapotec civilisation, an indigenous group, from between 500 and 900 AD.
Archaeologists have uncovered the “discovery of the decade” in Oaxaca, Mexico, after 1,400 years. An ancient tomb believed to be from around 600 AD, belonging to the 'Cloud People', has been unearthed in a valley
It belonged to the Zapotec civilisation, an indigenous group in Oaxaca, from between 500 and 900 AD and the tomb was located in Cerro de la Cantera. Work is currently under way by the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) to work out its inscriptions and determine its cultural and religious significance.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said last Friday (January 23) that the discovery is “the most important archaeological discovery of the last decade”.
She said the site is significant because of its “level of preservation and the information it provides”. Archaeologists hope the discovery will provide valuable information about the pre-Hispanic civilisation.
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Secretary of Culture, Claudia Curiel de Icaza, said: "This is an exceptional find due to its level of preservation and what it reveals about Zapotec culture: their social organisation, funerary rituals, and worldview, preserved in their architecture and mural paintings.
"It is a compelling example of Mexico's ancient grandeur, which is now being researched, protected, and shared with society."
Archaeologists found sculptures and mural paintings inside the tomb, including symbolic representations of power and death, as well as friezes and tombstones with calendrical inscriptions.
A large carved owl - a bird the Zapotecs believed symbolised night and death - was also found at the entrance. Its beak covers the painted face of a Zapotec lord, possibly a portrait of the individual the tomb was built for.
The threshold is flanked by a horizontal beam of stone slabs, while the figures of a man and a woman, adorned with headdresses, are carved on the jambs.
On the walls of the burial chamber are sections of a mural painting in hues of red, blue, green, white and ochre.
INAH experts are currently carrying out conservation, protection and research work on the building. They are also working to decipher the tomb's inscriptions and iconography.
An INAH spokesperson said: "This discovery is, without doubt, a window into the soul of a civilisation that, thousands of years later, continues to speak through stone and colour."
