2,800-year-old monument found in Mexico
July 27th, 2011 - 12:16 pm ICT by IANSMexico City, July 27 (IANS/EFE) Mexican archaeologists have discovered a 1.5 tonne stone relief that was created more than 2,800 years ago, authorities said.
The discovery was made at the archaeological site of Chalcatzingo in Morelos state, “the only pre-Columbian site known in central Mexico with large bas-reliefs”, said the National Institute of Archaeology and History, or INAH, in a communique.
The work - standing more than 1.5 meters tall - was discovered in late April on the north slope of Chalcatzingo as archaeologists were building a containing wall and protective roofs for the other monoliths in the area.
Sculpted on the stone are three cats sitting in profile, looking west and surrounded by great scroll decorations.
The relief was found broken in 11 pieces, which the experts spent May and June restoring, so that only now is it possible “to admire the triad of felines in their entirety”, INAH said.
Since the first explorations there in the 1930s, some 41 monuments have been discovered in Chalcatzingo up to now, four of which have cat figures, animals feared and venerated by the Olmecs, who inhabited the area between the years 800-500 B.C., a period known as the Middle Pre-Classical.
Experts believe that the Olmecs, the first civilization in the Americas to leave monumental architecture and sculptures, built a frieze all along the Chalcatzingo hill.
The Olmec civilization flourished between 1800 B.C. and A.D. 400 in the region occupied today by the states of Veracruz and Tabasco.
- 2,700-year-old human skeletons found in Mexico - May 20, 2010
- 2,700-year-old tomb found in Mexico - May 18, 2010
- 2,300-year-old Maya ruins destroyed for private ranch - Dec 05, 2010
- 3,000-yr-old Mesoamerican sculpture discovered in southern Mexico - Feb 15, 2011
- Ninth-century cemetery unearthed in Mexico - Jun 29, 2011
- Over 8,100 antiquities turned over to Mexican government - Feb 27, 2009
- Mayas had their own musical scale, say experts - Dec 14, 2011
- Mayans did not predict end of world in 2012: expert - Apr 12, 2010
- Mexicans criticised for removing bones from archaeological site - Mar 15, 2012
- 9,000-year-old tools found in Mexico - Oct 21, 2011
- Collapse of Mayan civilization was due to environmental damage - Mar 17, 2011
- Numerical pattern found in ancient Mexican city - Oct 28, 2011
- Prehistoric cave paintings found in Dominican Republic - Aug 04, 2010
- Mayan civilisation collapse blamed on environmental damage - Mar 16, 2011
- 2,700-yr-old pyramid tomb with royal burials, jewels unearthed in Mexico - Nov 19, 2010
Tags: 1930s, archaeologists, archaeology, bas reliefs, cat figures, central mexico, chalcatzingo, explorations, felines, frieze, inah, mexico city, mexico mexico, monoliths, monumental architecture, north slope, olmec civilization, olmecs, tabasco, veracruz