Mexican archaeologists have unearthed a richly decorated human body from a grave in the area that may be more than 1,000 years old, the country’s national antiquities institute INAH said Monday. It was discovered during the completion of construction work on a major tourist rail project.
This latest discovery was made during work on the construction of a hotel near the major Maya ruins of Palenque in the state of Chiapas. It was once one of the largest and most sophisticated urban centers of the ancient civilization.
The discoveries were made this month as a multi-billion dollar tourist train is being built in southern Mexico. The discovery, made during archaeological rescue work, was largely designed to attract tourists to the many ancient Maya sites in southern Mexico, as well as the top beach resorts around Cancún and Tulum.
This rail project is known as Maya Train is President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s top economic development priority. It has employed relatively well-funded teams of archaeologists to complete the excavations so that construction work is not delayed. Excavation elsewhere in the country has faced budget cuts.
