Mass Grave Mystery Solved: 167 Bodies Discovered in Mexican Cave Died 1,300 Years Ago Daily Mail
go to original March 12, 2012

The remains have been moved to the state capital of Tuxtla Gutierrez for examination

The experts and anthropologists said the skulls of the remains, found in a cave near the Guatemalan border, showed signs of artificial deformation practiced more than 1,000 years ago by natives in the area.

The Maya people, who lived in Southern Mexico and Guatemala, would use planks to flatten and elongate the skulls of infants.

The top Chiapas official from Mexico's national anthropology institute said the site shared characteristics with other cemeteries that date from the years 700 to 1200, a statement said.

The remains ‘disintegrated at the touch,’ said the official at the Chiapas state prosecutor's office.

Investigators are trying to determine the age and gender of the victims and the cause of death, the official said on condition of anonymity.

The remains were found Friday on the Nuevo Ojo de Agua ranch in an area frequently used by Central American migrants traveling north.

The state of decomposition at first indicated they are at least 50 years old, he had said on Saturday, adding there were no obvious signs of violence.

Mexican authorities including the police, the prosecutor's office, civil protection personnel and the military were working to exhume the bodies and transport them for analysis.

The remains have been moved to the state capital of Tuxtla Gutierrez for examination, a prosecutor’s office employee told the Associated Press.

The grave is on a remote ranch near the town of Frontera Comalapa, about 11 miles from the Guatemalan border in an area where migrants from Central America often cross on their way to the United States.

A 36-year civil war in Guatemala, which began in 1960, claimed 250,000 lives and left 45,000 people missing. Activists suspect they were killed by soldiers and secretly buried.

In recent years, drug trafficking gangs have dumped the bodies of hundreds of victims, including scores of Central American migrants, into mass graves.

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