Mexico City, February 16.—A cemetery from the early viceregal period was discovered in Chapultepec Forest as part of the archaeological salvage work accompanying the construction of the Garden and the Scenic Pavilion. The burials show that some were carried out according to the recently introduced Catholic tradition and others still in the Mesoamerican style, reported the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), detailing that it has recovered the skeletal remains of 21 individuals.
The Chapultepec, Nature, and Culture project, the agency added, has allowed for the investigation of unknown historical contexts, such as this discovery, dated between 1521 and 1620. In recent weeks, work has focused on the area known as the "ecological parking lot," near Campo Marte.
María de Lourdes López Camacho, coordinator of the archaeological rescue, mentioned that during the monitoring of the works, a 2 by 2 meter test pit was drilled, which allowed the detection of human bone remains from 1.37 meters deep, so the southern part of the investigation area was considered potential.
The excavation was doubled, with field assistance from archaeologists Blanca Copto Gutiérrez and Alixbeth Daniela Aburto Pérez. Over the past three weeks, the team recovered the remains—in varying states of preservation—of 21 individuals, mostly adults, including a couple of children.
