Archaeologists have uncovered nearly 5,000 ancient cave paintings in a mix of red, yellow, white and black, near Burgos, Mexico.
Archaeologists have effortlessly been working with the Mexican National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) to list all the ancient paintings, which were found in 2006. The images in the paintings portray everyday lives of ancient humans, including hunting, fishing and gathering, and also images of animals such as deer, lizards and centipedes. Some paintings also relate to astronomy and religious scenes. Precisely, 4,926 paintings were discovered from 11 different locations in the San Carlos mountain range near Burgos.
Since the paintings were not dated, archaeologists hope to take pigment samples and find their approximate age. Other dating processes such as taking small objects from the area and analyzing the residue have been ruled out by the archaeologists because the rains have swept away any such possible sediment.
"We have not found any ancient objects linked to the context, and because the paintings are on ravine walls and in the rainy season the sediments are washed away, all we have is gravel," Gustavo Ramirez, an archaeologist from the Mexican National Institute of Anthropology (INAH), said.
Once the dating process is completed, it will be easier to understand them. In one of the caves, 1,550 paintings were found along with an image of an atlatl, a Hispanic weapon used for hunting, first to be found in paintings in the Tamaulipas region.
According to the archaeologists, three hunter-gatherer groups, the Guajolotes, Iconoplos and Pintos, are believed to have made those paintings. Previously this area was thought to be uninhabited by ancient civilizations.
"Their importance is that based on them, we have been able to document the presence of pre-Hispanic groups in Burgos, where before it was believed there was nothing, when in reality it was inhabited by one or several cultures," Martha García Sánchez, an archaeologist working on the project, said.
Sánchez said that these three groups evaded the Spanish rule for almost 200 years and fled into the mountainous Sierra de San Carlos where they found "water, plants and animals to feed themselves."
The findings were presented during the second meeting of Historic Archaeology at Mexico City's National History Museum.
