The 2,400-year-old Mayan remains of nine young adults and a baby ritually 'intertwined' in death have been found south of Mexico City.
The ten individuals, who had their heads damaged and teeth mutilated, would have been the earliest settlers near what is now Mexico City.
Laid out in a strange spiral shape, the bodies were buried with bowls, pots, basins and some also had ceramics and stones in their hands.
Mayan people had an enormous fear of death and believed that when someone died, it had been because their souls had been stolen by evil spirits.
Scientists hope the discovery may help shed more light on the Mayan civilisation and their mysterious death rituals
The discovery took place in the Tlalpan borough near Mexico City by experts from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) on the grounds of the Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico.
It was found 1.5 metres (4.9 feet) below what used to be the University's oratory, and is the first grave containing a large group of people to be found in the area.
Experts are hoping the graves, which have not yet been fully investigated, may also include ornaments or other tributes for the dead in the afterlife
Head archaeologist Jimena Rivera Escamilla, who has been coordinating the team's dig for over five months, believes there could be over 20 truncated conical graves at the site.
Two of the ten skeletons are women, one is male and the rest are yet to be analysed.
Graves with diameters ranging from 1.2 metres (3.9 feet) to 2.3 metres (7.5 feet) have been discovered nearby.
Archaeologist Martha Garcia Orihuela discovered the latest grave with the bones from 10 people in a circle in a hole with a 2-metre (6.5-foot) diameter.
The bodies were buried 'interacting', according to lead anthropologist Lucia Lopez Mejia.
Placed directly on the earth, the bodies were 'linked', so the arm bones of one individual appear under the spine of another, writes Spanish site La Journada Maya.
'We have different anatomical depositions: ventral flexion, hyperflexion with the lower limbs bent towards the pelvis, dorsal decubitus with the limbs towards the abdomen, and extended ventral decubitus', said Dr Mejia.
Eight of them are believed to be young adults and one is a child between three and five years of age.
Another is a baby believed to be just a few months old.
The site dates back to the Preclassic period of Mayan history and falls between the Middle (1000-400 BC) and Late (400 BC-250 AD) periods.
Although little is known of civilisations living in the area at this time, Dr Rivera Escamilla hopes to shed more light on them.
She believes that the area was settled for over 500 years during the end of the Middle and at the beginning of the Late periods.
According to the expert, the Tlalpan site is home to one of the few villages established to the east of Cuicuilco and probably grew to become an important settlement at a regional level.
Mystery as 2,400-year-old human remains found in Mexico | Daily Mail Online
