A grisly 45ft-long shipwreck has been dredged from the mud of a drought-ravaged lake in Mexico, along with a “unique” set of altered human bones.
Archaeologists have identified the ship as a traditional model known as a “tepari,” which is believed to predate the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors by centuries, although the age of this particular shipwreck remains uncertain.
The ship appears to have sunk with its cargo, mainly firewood, which experts say was being shipped to Janitzio Island from Erongarícuaro. four miles west.
Each of the mysterious and remarkably well-preserved bones found in this shipwreck, mostly femurs or thigh bones, were riddled with multiple deep grooves.
According to a Spanish-language publication, the bones could provide valuable information about the “ritual practices of the ancient civilizations that inhabited the region.”
The eerie wreck of a ship more than 45 feet long has been dredged from the mud of a drought-ravaged lake in Mexico, with a “unique” set of altered human bones (above). Each of the well-preserved bones, mostly femurs or thigh bones, were scored with multiple deep grooves.
Archaeologists have identified the ship as a traditional ‘tepari’, dating back centuries before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors, although the age of this particular wreck remains uncertain. The ship (above) appears to have sunk with its cargo, mostly firewood.
‘Numerous ceramic and stone objects were also found that are believed to have been thrown into the lake during pre-Hispanic times as offerings,’ according to the same magazine. The Green Compassbased on the other side of the Atlantic, in the city of Oviedo, Spain.
The find was first reported by an excavation and preservation team from the National Institute of Anthropology and History, or INAH (an acronym for the organization’s official name in Spanish, ‘Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia’).
According to INAH officials, each of the bones has nearly a dozen grooves, macabre engravings whose purpose is currently unknown.
The director of the INAH excavation project, José Luis Punzo, agreed with the institute’s assessment that the bones were “unique” due to their good state of preservation.
But the researcher focused more on the other artifacts found near the shipwreck.
Excavators on the dry bed of Lake Patzcuaro, Mexico, examine the half-buried wreck of the ‘tepary’ (above)
“Among these, several complete ceramic pieces have been recovered, such as decorated bowls, pots and incense burners,” said Punzo, “which are examples of the rituals that were surely carried out in the lagoon.”
‘Deer antlers, bone needles and other stone objects have also been recovered,’ said the INAH official. Week of news.
“Thanks to these studies,” he said, “we will be able to gain a deeper insight into the relationship of the ancient inhabitants of this place with the lake.”
Punzo noted that the true age of the discovered tepary ship is still “difficult” to determine, even roughly by century.
The ship could be older than Spain’s colonial occupation of Mexico 500 years ago, or a more recent carving from more modern times, he said.
According to Punzo, INAH experts will carry out further analyses of the vessel to determine more specifically when it was manufactured and its historical value.
José Luis Punzo, who leads the effort to recover and conserve the artifacts, noted that these tepary vessels, despite their impressive length, “are monocoque vessels, meaning they are made from a single large tree and carved from it.”
‘Numerous ceramic and stone objects were also found that are believed to have been thrown into the lake during pre-Hispanic times as offerings,’ according to a publication that covered the discovery, the magazine La Brújula Verde, based on the other side of the Atlantic, in the city of Oviedo, Spain.
Lake Pátzcuaro, where these artifacts were discovered, is estimated to have lost 50 percent of its usual volume in recent years, according to Televisa, CNN affiliate.
Both “environmental factors” such as drought, which has been accelerated by climate change, and “illegal water extraction” have contributed to the losses, representatives of the municipal government of Pátzcuaro told the television station.
As local hotel owner Arturo Pimentel pointed out, clear-cutting to make way for avocado plantations has also disrupted the natural movement and retention of water in the lake.
“The avocado has become a pest in the area,” Pimentel told the Canadian public broadcaster. CBC.
These conditions have transformed the island of Janitzio, in the lake and famous for its Day of the Dead celebrations, into a peninsula, according to the Mexican news site N+.
Droughts accelerated by climate change and illegal water theft have helped transform the island of Janitzio (above) in the lake into a peninsula.
Map of Lake Patzcuaro, Mexico: where the shipwreck and ritual bones were discovered
But officials at the Mexican government’s Institute of Anthropology said they hope to make the most of the lake’s current tragic state by securing these historic cultural finds.
‘At this time, together with the Janitzio community, conservation work is being carried out on movable archaeological materials,’ INAH said in a statement, “as well as other tepary that have been identified.”
While INAH did not release photographs or details about these additional shipwrecks, the institute noted that its plan is to preserve these artifacts for “a community museum on Janitzio Island.”
The director of the INAH project, Punzo, pointed out that these tepary vessels, despite their impressive length, ‘They are monocoque boats, that is, they are made from a single large tree and carved from it.’
The canoe-shaped vessels are carved with an axe-like tool called an adze, which leaves characteristic marks along the tepary wood.
Tepary are traditionally sealed or caulked to make them waterproof with tar, a natural mud made from petroleum-derived raw material that gives the boats their dark color.
The boats could often carry up to 20 people, and this crew handled a large net for fishing expeditions.
However, due to deforestation, few logs remain locally available for Mexico’s indigenous people to continue carving traditional tepary, according to the INAH’s National Museum of Anthropology.
But the craftsmanship required to make a tepary was once so revered that local respect was built into the name.
The word is an adjective in the Purépecha language of the Michoacán region of Mexico. which is used to indicate ‘something very great, admirable and of consideration’.