Mortuary Cave Discovered in Coahuila State

A recent discovery in northern Mexico revealed a mortuary cave in which pre-Hispanic nomads buried their dead.

This discovery was in Coahuila, a state that borders the U.S., across from Texas.

This is not the first mortuary cave discovered in Coahuila. There have been several. The most famous is the Candelaria Cave, investigated in the 1950s.

In these mortuary caves, the nomads would wrap their dead in fabrics and lay them in the cave, along with various objects.

This latest discovery was in the Ocampo National Protected Area in northern Coahuila.

INAH, the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, received reports of looting.

So INAH went to investigate with the help of the Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas (Conanp) and the Asociación Coahuilense de Espeleología (the Coahuila Association of Speleology).

The team found this hole and went down it:

They descended this small hole into a vertical shaft (less than 2 feet wide),
lowering themselves approximately 13 feet to the bottom.

At that level they found another vertical shaft. They lowered themselves down that shaft about 26 feet. At that level was the burial chamber.

The chamber had apparently already been looted and artifacts removed.

There were scattered human bones though and fragments of fabric.

They gathered the bones, apparently belonging to 17 persons: men, women and children. There were 12 complete skulls, including 5 of children. They are estimated to be at least 500 years old.

They found 15 textile fragments, from 4 types of mats. (Mats were used to place the dead).

Here is a photo of one of these fabric fragments:

The bones and textile fragments were taken to the Museo Regional de la Laguna in Torreon, Coahuila, for safekeeping and investigation.

Click here for a July 1st bulletin in Spanish about the cave, click here or here for articles in English about it; with photos.