The north-eastern city of Burgos, located near Mexico, was a sight to behold when a group of archaeologists uncovered around 5,000 ancient paintings in yellow, red, black and white.
Earlier, it was believed that no ancient civilizations existed in this region, however, these paintings may prove otherwise.
"The discovery is important because we have documented the presence of pre-Hispanic groups in Burgos, where before it was said there was nothing," Gustavo Ramirez, an archaeologist from the Mexican National Institute of Anthropology (INAH), said.
Spread over 11 different sites, these paintings were created by at least 3 groups of hunter gatherers, scientists believe.
Of the 5,000 paintings discovered, more than 1,500 paintings were found in one cave alone. Also, the archaeologists uncovered a new discovery - the paintings displayed an ancient Hispanic weapon, known as atlatl, which may help researchers gain new insight on the ways of the early Mexicans.
This particular weapon - the atlatl, was developed in the Upper Paleolithic period, more than 20,000 years ago.
The paintings, in red, black, yellow and white, mostly displayed images of humans fishing, hunting and gathering. Some animals including deer, lizards and centipedes were also subject matters of these paintings, and were etched on the walls.
"We have not found any ancient objects linked to the context, and because the paintings are on ravine walls and in the rainy season the sediments are washed away, all we have is gravel," Ramirez added.
Though the paintings have not been dated yet, chemical analysis will be done in the near future to help estimate the age of these ancient paintings.
These paintings may help shed more light on the early human civilizations that lived in the region. These findings were presented in Mexico's National History Museum.
