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Trove of ancient skulls and bones found stacked on top of each other during construction project in Mexico
Archaeologists working on a site in Mexico found ancient skulls and bones stacked on top of each other, offering a glimpse into the practices of how some funerals might have been carried out in the region and era, officials said.
The discovery was made in Pozo de Ibarra, a small town in the state of Jalisco. Personnel from the National Institute of Anthropology and History, a government department, were observing the construction of a sanitary sewage network, to protect any cultural artifacts that might be found during the project, the INAH said in a news release.
As the work went on, the archaeologists discovered a funerary system, where a series of bones were carefully arranged. Long bones, like tibias and femurs, were placed in one part of the system, while skulls were in another area. Some skulls were even stacked on top of each other.
Claudia Servín Rosas, INAH
In total, researchers found at least seven complete skulls, the INAH said, each likely belonging to a male individual. Those individuals were all of different ages, and some of the skulls show cranial modification, a social practice where the skull was shaped a certain way for aesthetic purposes, the institute said.
The archaeologists were able to determine that the bones were placed in these patterns after they had become skeletonized, suggesting a “complex funerary system,” according to the INAH. All of the bones were buried at the same time.
It’s not clear why the burial would have been conducted this way, the INAH said, noting that that there are no precedents for this type of funeral. The department suggested that the seven men might have been from one family and that the remains were buried there as part of a rite to found a settlement.
The practice may date back to the Amapa cultural era, which occurred from 500 AD to 800 or 850 AD. Ceramic vessels and figurines found at the site have helped researchers determine the time frame when it may have been built.
The remains will be protected and preserved for further research, the INAH said.
At least 11 employees were taken to hospitals and residents were urged to shelter in place on Tuesday after an explosion at a Louisville, Kentucky, business.
The Louisville Metro Emergency Services reported on social media a “hazardous materials incident” at 1901 Payne St., in Louisville. The address belongs to a facility operated by Givaudan Sense Colour, a manufacturer of food colorings for soft drinks and other products, according to officials and online records.
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said emergency teams responded to the blast around 3 p.m. News outlets reported that neighbors heard what sounded like an explosion coming from the business. Overhead news video footage showed an industrial building with a large hole in its roof.
WLKY-TV
“The cause at this point of the explosion is unknown,” Greenberg said in a news conference. No one died in the explosion, he added.
Greenberg said officials spoke to employees inside the plant. “They have initially conveyed that everything was normal activity when the explosion occurred,” he said.
The Louisville Fire Department said in a post on the social platform X that multiple agencies were responding to a “large-scale incident.”
The Louisville Metro Emergency Services first urged people within a mile of the business to shelter in place, but that order was lifted in the afternoon. An evacuation order for the two surrounding blocks around the site of the explosion was still in place Tuesday afternoon.
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A rare square 37-carat emerald owned by the Aga Khan fetched nearly $9 million at auction in Geneva on Tuesday, making it the world’s most expensive green stone.
Sold by Christie’s, the Cartier diamond and emerald brooch, which can also be worn as a pendant, dethrones a piece of jewelry made by the fashion house Bulgari, which Richard Burton gave as a wedding gift to fellow actor Elizabeth Taylor, as the most precious emerald.
In 1960, Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan commissioned Cartier to set the emerald in a brooch with 20 marquise-cut diamonds for British socialite Nina Dyer, to whom he was briefly married.
Dyer then auctioned off the emerald to raise money for animals in 1969.
FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images
By chance that was Christie’s very first such sale in Switzerland on the shores of Lake Geneva, with the emerald finding its way back to the 110th edition this year.
It was bought by jeweler Van Cleef & Arpels before passing a few years later into the hands of Harry Winston, nicknamed the “King of Diamonds.”
“Emeralds are hot right now, and this one ticks all the boxes,” said Christie’s EMEA Head of Jewellery Max Fawcett. “…We might see an emerald of this quality come up for sale once every five or six years.”
Also set with diamonds, the previous record-holder fetched $6.5 million at an auction of part of Hollywood legend Elizabeth Taylor’s renowned jewelry collection in New York.
