July 22, 2026 / 9:30 AM EDT
/ CBS/AFP
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Archaeologists in El Salvador exhumed human remains believed to be nearly 3,000 years old on Tuesday, the Ministry of Culture said. The remains were first uncovered on July 2 in a burial site at Antiguo Cuscatlan, a suburb of San Salvador, and are estimated to date back to around 850 BC, according to the ministry, which also released images of the site. The burial pit contained a small Usulutan-style ceramic vessel shaped like a sea turtle, as well as remnants of cassava branches preserved beneath layers of volcanic ash deposited over different periods. The remains were found face down and will undergo radiocarbon dating to determine their age. DNA analysis will also be carried out to determine the person's sex."This find could become one of the oldest pre-Hispanic burials in Mesoamerica and would provide new information about the populations that inhabited this region more than two thousand years ago," the ministry said in a social media post along with a video of archaeologists working at the site.
Archaeologists in El Salvador exhumed human remains believed to be nearly 3,000 years old, the Ministry of Culture said.
