Mexican archaeologists look back on a banner year

Mexico City –  A roughly 1,000-year-old Maya sarcophagus, vestiges of an extinct tribe, the oldest tomb in Mesoamerica, dinosaur fossils and human remains dating from the early 8th century are some of the most noteworthy archaeological finds made in Mexico during 2010.

“We haven’t had such a fruitful period since the (19)80s, and we haven’t undertaken so many investigations across the length and breadth of the country,” Julio Castrejon, the head of communications for Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History, told Efe.

The capital and the state of Chiapas, Chihuahua, Tlaxcala, Coahuila, Zacatecas and Mexico are the places where the institute, known by the acronym INAH, uncovered 10 of the finds that have allowed scientists to learn more about the Maya and Mexica cultures, as well as about the fauna that existed many thousands of years ago in the region.