Five ancient shaft tombs filled with human remains and burial offerings have been uncovered in central Mexico.
The chilling discovery was made during excavations linked to a major railway project in Tula, Hidalgo.
Archaeologists found one chamber containing the remains of eight people alongside 47 miniature ceramic vessels, with several bodies buried in seated positions and offerings placed at their feet.
Among the artefacts recovered were fragments of a semi-circular mother-of-pearl pendant, plaques made from the small material, a small shell and decorated vessels.
Researchers from the Archaeological Salvage Programme, led by archaeologist Víctor Heredia Guillén, has been on site since September 2025.
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They have now documented more than a dozen individual and collective burials at the site, including the remains of children, teenagers and adults.
Mexico’s culture secretary, Claudia Curiel de Icaza, said the find ‘provides information about the ways of life, beliefs, and social organisation of those who inhabited this region more than a thousand years ago, and confirms that infrastructure development can be accompanied by rigorous research and the preservation of heritage.’
The tombs were carved into tepetate, a hardened volcanic soil found across the region, beneath the remains of ancient homes and courtyards dating back almost 1,800 years.
Most of the structures uncovered belong to the Teotihuacan civilisation, which was prominent between AD225 and 550.
The culture is famous for constructing the giant pyramids at Teotihuacan, which gave it its name, and existed centuries before the Aztecs.
Archaeologists first identified the site after spotting fragments of ancient pottery scattered across the surface. Test excavations revealed the foundations of residential compounds.
The settlement formed part of a wider network of Teotihuacan-linked communities spread across northern Tula dating from AD 200 to 650.
These include Chingú, considered a regional centre of Teotihuacan expansion, as well as El Tesoro, Acoculco, El Llano, and La Malinche.
Last year, liquid mercury was found in the Quetzalcoatl temple – known as the Feathered Serpent Pyramid – in the ancient city of Teotihuacan.
Experts believe it may have been considered as a ‘gateway to the underworld’.