Construction crew unearths 1,375-year-old pyramid on Mexico’s future highway
Dec 10, 2024 Maria Mocerino, Interesting Engineering
Construction crew unearths 1,375-year-old pyramid on Mexico’s future highway The 1,375 Metzca pyramid.
Road construction came to an emergency halt in Hidalgo region in Mexico when workers uncovered a pyramid.
The amazing find can also shed new light on early human occupation in the region – where evidence of settlement has been traced back to roughly 14,000 years.
Under the Ministry of Culture of the Government of Mexico, archaeologists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) in Hidalgo, Mexico, rushed to the discovery site this June when the foundation of the 1,375-year-old pyramid surfaced unexpectedly on the third lane of a future highway.
According to a December 5 announcement, INAH archaeologists rapidly began excavating “Structure 1″ to learn more about its origins.
They discovered, along with hundreds of artifacts, that it belonged to a pre-Hispanic settlement attached to an indigenous kingdom that predated the arrival of the Spanish.
The preliminary results of the “exhaustive research” have been shared with various educational institutions to continue raising awareness about the region’s archaeological heritage.
However, due to a lack of resources, the pyramid has been reburied to keep it protected from damage that could occur. Still, the data and material from the site will contribute to the preservation of Mexico’s rich indigenous history.
A Metzca pyramid attached to the indigenous kingdom of Metztitlan
After the pyramid appeared in June 2024, archaeologists conducted a thorough survey of the monument and surrounding area with the assistance of drone technology.
Upon closer investigation, it soon became clear that the sole pyramid was attached to a much larger and significant site. They identified five sections and 10 archaeological mounds, at least.
Additionally, 155 samples of ceramic, malacological, and lithic materials have been collected, from floors of lime, coal, earth, and charred wood, which will undergo further analysis in the upcoming months.
The impressive settlement, according to INAH archaeologists, most likely dates between the Epiclassic period (650 to 950 CE) and the Late Postclassic period (1350 to 1519 CE).
The site called San Miguel, named after the nearby town of San Miguel Metzquititlán was once Metztitlan, a pre-Hispanic kingdom, as per Gizmodo, which managed to stay independent even from Aztec control.
Their “multiethnic imprint,” INAH states, remained visible up until the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century “when the Augustinian order began the construction of various hermitages, churches, and convents there.”
“There were no known remnants of pre-Hispanic civilizations in this immediate area prior to the San Miguel site discovery,” Héctor Labra Chávez, the Secretary of Tourism of San Agustín Metzquititlán, was quoted as saying in Popular Science.
The Metzca pyramid was reburied
Nestled in a nature reserve in the Sierra Alta, the archaeological treasure from Mexico’s pre-Spanish past should equally be preserved and protected as part of Mexico’s untouchable landscape. However, they had to rebury the pyramid, as they cannot properly manage the site at this time, Gizmodo reports.
Measures were taken, INAH explains.
Prior to its return to an underground existence, they protected the structures with geotextile and built a rock masonry wall running parallel to the archaeological structure for conservation purposes.
The data generated, all the same, “will contribute to the understanding of human occupation in the Sierra Alta region of Hidalgo, specifically in the Barranca de Metztitlán area, where, according to historiography, the first settlements date back at least 14,000 years,” INAH stated in the release.
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