In the mountains of northeastern Mexico archaeologists have discovered ancient cave paintings dating back to well before the Spanish arrived in the New World. The almost 5,000 paintings were found in 11 different sites and offer a glimpse into a culture that very little is known about, according to Livescience.
The paintings were done by cave dwellers who lives on the mountain tops near Burgos, Mexico. Previously the area was thought to have been uninhabited prior to the arrival of the Spanish. Archaeologist Martha Garcia Sanchez said that the paintings which depict humans and animals are abstract in nature, according to CNN.
"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, where in reality it was inhabited by one or several cultures," Sanchez told CNN.
Researchers are still unable to determine when exactly the paintings were made. Eventually they may be able to determine the date by analyzing the pigments used to create the art, Livescience reports. Gustavo Ramirez, an archaeologist with the Mexican National Institute of Anthropology and History, explained the difficulty of dating the paintings in a statement.
"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," Ramirez said.
The paintings are done in black, yellow, red and white pigments. Most of the paintings are of animals such as deer, lizards, centipedes and people, according to Livescience.
Researchers are speculating that the paintings were made by three different nomadic groups of hunter-gatherers; the Guajolotes, Iconoplos and Pintos, according to CNN. Sanchez suspects that the groups were able to avoid being conquered by the Spanish for quite some time by living in the mountains, according to Livescience.
A gallery of the cave paintings can be seen here.
