Huge new find in Mexico
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Mexican monolith could change history
3,000-year-old carvings contain ‘new symbols in
Mesoamerica’
Reuters
Updated: 12:18 p.m. ET May 9, 2006
MEXICO CITY - A carved monolith unearthed in Mexico may show that the
Olmec civilization, one of the oldest in the Americas, was more
widespread than thought or that another culture thrived alongside it
3,000 years ago.
Findings at the newly excavated Tamtoc archaeological site in the
north-central state of San Luis Potosi may prompt scholars to rethink a
view of Mesoamerican history that holds its earliest peoples were based
in the south of Mexico.
"It is a very relevant indicator of an Olmec penetration far to the
north, or of the presence of a new group co-existing with the Olmecs,"
said archaeologist Guillermo Ahuja, who led a government team excavating
the site for the past five years.
Tamtoc, located about 550 miles (885 kilometers) northeast of Mexico
City, is being opened to the public this week, while experts including
linguists, historians, ethnographers and others study findings from the
site to confirm their origins.
The Olmecs are considered the mother culture of pre-Hispanic Mexico.
Ruins of Olmec centers believed to have flourished as early as 1200 B.C.
have been found in the Gulf Coast states of Veracruz and Tabasco, with
only scattered artifacts found elsewhere.
Workers restoring a canal at the site stumbled on the stone monolith. It
appears to represent a lunar calendar and contains three human figures
and other symbols in relief.
At 25 feet (7.6 meters) long, 13 feet (4 meters) high, 16 inches (40
centimeters) thick and weighing more than 30 tons, it may date to as
early as 900 B.C., Ahuja said.
Experts will try to interpret the icons to learn more about the artists
and their culture. "They are new symbols in Mesoamerica," Ahuja said.
At Tamtoc, scientists found evidence of an advanced civilization, with a
hydraulic system, canals and other technology, making it the oldest and
most advanced center of its time found in what later became Huasteco
Indian region, Ahuja said.
"It is the first and only Huasteco City we know," he said.
The 330-acre (133-hectare) complex has three plazas and more than 70
buildings and may indicate that the Olmecs migrated northward and
mingled with other peoples there, he said.
Copyright 2006 Reuters Limited.
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