Researchers say Mexico's northeastern mountains are home to nearly 5,000 ancient drawings

May 27, 2013 19:01 GMT  ·  By

Caves in Mexico's northeastern mountains are home to about 5,000 ancient drawings created by people who used to inhabit these regions before the Spanish rule, a team of archaeologists announced this May 26.

The researchers who discovered these paintings and took the time to study them maintain that, since little is known about Mexico's pre-Spanish past, the discovery of this ancient cave art need be regarded as one of the most amazing archaeological finds of the century.

The caves in which these paintings were found are scattered across 11 different archaeological sites in said part of Mexico, The Examiner reports.

As the researchers explain, the 5,000 ancient drawings discovered in these caves were created using shades of red, black, yellow and white.

While some of the paintings show animals such as deer and lizards, others show human beings carrying out various activities.

Thus, some of these silhouettes appear to be fishing, while others are portrayed hunting.

According to the same source, sketches of tents in which these people used to live also made their way onto the caves' walls.

Archaeologist Martha Garcia Sanchez says that, once these regions found themselves under Spanish rule, locals were left with no choice except seek refuge in the mountains and resort to hunting and fishing to keep alive.

What Martha Garcia Sanchez means is that the paintings most likely detail their life during that period.

Now that these paintings have been discovered, archaeologists hope that they will be able to gain a better understanding of these native cultures.

For the time being, the archaeologists are unable to say precisely how long ago these images were painted. They hope that, once they carry out several more tests, they will be able to come up with an answer to this question.

The researchers who worked on unearthing these ancient paintings detailed their findings during this year's Second Conference of Archaeological History in Mexico City.