Source: AP (via UASR)
Date: Oct 21, 1998
Written by: Isaac A. Levi, Associated Press Writer

Archaeologists digging inside the Pyramid of the Moon in ancient Mexico's biggest ceremonial center have uncovered what could be remnants from a civilization even older than the mysterious Teotihuacanos.

The archaeological team said Tuesday that the pyramid was built on top of the remains of at least three buildings, one of which contained a human skeleton surrounded by funeral offerings and other artifacts.

"It could be very important, once we find out more," said Saburu Sugiyama, a Japanese-born archaeologist from Arizona State University. He said the bones were in good condition, buried in a sitting position

The tomb was discovered by accident 11 days ago, Sugiyama said.

Teotihuacan, in the valley of the same name 30 miles north of Mexico City, used to be a thriving city and ceremonial center that predated the Aztecs by several centuries.

But very little is known about it. Investigators have studied the pyramids and buildings close by, artifacts and a few pictographs, but no hieroglyphs or other writings of any kind. No one knows what their language was.

Teotihuacan began declining sharply around 650 AD, and was almost completely abandoned around 750 AD. No one knows why.

The skeleton is still half-buried, and its gender and age have not been determined. Sugiyama said a rough guess would place the skeleton between 100 and 150 AD.

Around 150 artifacts have been found in the tomb, including figurines, ceramics, statuettes, jade carvings and obsidian pieces.

"It must have belonged to somebody important, because of the amount and quality of funeral offerings surrounding it," Sugiyama said.

Although mummies and other human remains have been uncovered in pyramids in Egypt and elsewhere, human remains deep inside a Mexican pyramid have been almost unheard of. The step-pyramids were built mainly to give height to stone temples to make sacrifice and worship the gods.

Sugiyama is part of a team of archaeologists from the University of Tokyo, the National Autonomous University of Mexico, Arizona State, the University of the Americas in Mexico and the National Institute of History and Anthropology.

The group is also financing the project with the U.S. National Science Foundation, project coordinator Ruben Cabrera Castro said.

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