Pre-Hispanic relics found in Mexico

Mexican archeologists have found at least 500 stone and ceramic pieces of the pre-Hispanic colonial era in the Chichimeca region of San Luis Potosi and Guanajuato states in central Mexico, local press reported on Thursday.

The relics, which date from 1000 A.D. to 1800 A.D., were found in 37 camps distributed in five areas.

Ruben Manzanilla, an archeologist with the Mexican National Institute of Anthropology and History, told reporters that the relics included tools such as scrapers, knives and pocket knives made of different kinds of rocks.

They also found a rock with paintings representing a heron made with some red-color mineral and another rock with the painting of a possible human face, he added.

"Among the pieces there are small bullets of green or gray obsidian. According to historical records, this type of arrowheads were used by nomad natives in the so-called Chichimeca War against the Spaniards in the 16th century," he said.

Manzanilla also said the mortar and pounding stones found there were made by sedentary pre-Hispanic groups, which proves that the nomads traded products with the sedentary groups.

"These activities were documented in history and we were able to corroborate it in these explorations," he said.

Archeologists would continue their research in these areas where they found the relics and where El Realito dam is being built, he added.

Source: Xinhua