47 miniature vessels found in pre-Hispanic shaft burial

A tomb at the Ignacio Zaragoza archaeological site in Tula de Allende, Hidalgo, Mexico, dates to between 1,800 and 1,900 years ago and belongs to a residential complex within a dominant economic and cultural sphere. The settlement was occupied between 225 and 600 A.D., during the height of Teotihuacan power, about 55 miles from Teotihuacan. Salvage excavation along the Mexico City–Querétaro Passenger Train route uncovered wall foundations and small residential structures with rooms aligned north–south and east–west, connected by central and side patios. More than a dozen individual and collective burials were found inside and around residential spaces, including adults, children, and adolescents. The tomb included shaft burials with small chambers, and one northern shaft tomb contained eight people arranged seated with ceramic vessels at their feet. The presence of 47 miniature pottery vessels near the bodies indicates ritual practice rather than daily use and suggests careful mortuary maintenance.

"A tomb containing the remains of eight individuals and offerings of 47 miniature pottery vessels has been discovered at the Ignacio Zaragoza archaeological site in Tula de Allende, Hidalgo, Mexico. The tomb is between 1,800 and 1,900 years old, and is part of a residential complex within the sphere of its economic and cultural dominance. It was about 55 miles from Teotihuacan and was occupied between 225 and 600 A.D., the apex of Teotihuacan's power."

"After finding scattered fragments of pottery on the surface, the team dug test pits that uncovered wall foundations. Further excavation and coupled with drone photography determined the settlement consisted of small residential structures with rooms oriented north-south and east-west, connected by central and side patios. Inside and around the residential spaces, archaeologists found more than a dozen individual and collective burials containing complete and incomplete skeletons."

"Most were the long bones from the legs of adults, with a few children and adolescents. Some burials were cists on the surface, others cut into the tepetate (compressed volcanic soil). Five of the tombs were shaft burials vertical shafts leading to small burial chambers. Two of the shaft burials were in a single room. The one on the north side of the room had two chambers, the one of the south had one."

"It was inside the northern tomb that INAH archaeologists found the remains of eight people. Six of them had been arranged in a seated position with ceramic vessels at their feet. The offering of 47 miniature vessels is especially important. Miniature ceramics in Mesoamerican funerary settings often point to ritual practice rather than daily use. Their placement near the bodies suggests that the tomb was not a simple burial space, but a carefully maintained mortu"

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