1,400-year-old Zapotec tomb found in southern Mexico

"According to President of Mexico Claudia Sheinbaum, the quality of the decoration, its excellent preservation and the new information it provides about Zapotec ritual, social hierarchy and ancestor worship make the tomb the most important archaeological discovery of the last decade in Mexico. Archaeologists with the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) discovered the tomb in the municipality of San Pablo Huitzo in central Oaxaca when following up on an anonymous complaint for looting made in 2025."

"It contains reliefs, paintings and murals depicting motifs symbolizing death and power in Zapotec culture. Over the entrance to the tomb is a large relief of an owl, symbol of night, power and death. The hooked upper mandible of its beak curves down over a red painted stucco face of a Zapotec lord bearing his teeth in a fierce expression. Archaeologists believe the face may have belong to an ancestor to whom the tomb was dedicated."

"The entrance is flanked by two large jambs, each of them carved with a female and a male figure wearing headdresses and carrying artifacts in both hands. They may be guardians of the tomb. Inside the tomb is an antechamber with doorway leading into the burial chamber. A frieze above the lintel made of different stones engraved with calendrical names. Another pair of monumental jambs intricately carved with guarding figures flank the doorway under the lintel."

A 1,400-year-old Zapotec tomb was uncovered in San Pablo Huitzo, Oaxaca, following an anonymous looting complaint investigated by INAH archaeologists. The tomb contains reliefs, paintings and polychrome murals depicting motifs of death and power, including a large owl relief above the entrance overlaying a red stucco face of a Zapotec lord that may represent an honored ancestor. Monumental carved jambs show male and female figures that may act as guardians, while a stone frieze records calendrical names. A mural depicts a procession carrying bags of copal painted in ochre, white, green, red and blue. An interdisciplinary INAH Oaxaca team is conserving the site and prioritizing stabilization of fragile murals threatened by roots, insects, and sudden temperature and humidity changes.

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