Archaeologists discovered nearly 5,000 cave paintings in a mountain range in northeastern Mexico when, until now, pre-Hispanic groups were not known to have lived so far north, reported NatureWorldNews.com.
"Where before it was said that there was nothing, when in fact it was inhabited by one or more cultures," archaeologist Gustavo Ramirez, of the Mexican National Institute of Anthropology and History, said in a statement.
The images include lizards, deer, centipedes, skyscapes, people and what could possibly be astronomical charts, all depicted in colors including red, yellow, black and white. The cave paintings were spread across 11 sites total in the Sierra de San Carlos Mountains in Tamaulipas, a state near the U.S border.
According to NatureWorldNew, the paintings, totaling 4,926, were likely made by three groups of hunters and gatherers who lived in regions called the Guajolotes, the Iconopolos and the Pintos. The people in the paintings appear to be fishing, hunting and gathering, leading to the theory that they were painted by people who did just that.
Scientists could not determine the date of creation on site, NatureWorldNews.com reported, but may be able give an accurate timeframe using chemical and radiocarbon analyses.
"[The find is] important because with this we were able to document the presence of pre-Hispanic groups in Burgos, where before we said there were none," archaeologist Martha Garcia Sanchez of the Autonomous University of Zacatecas told NatureWorldNews.com.
Garcia Sanchez said the mysterious people were able to resist Spanish rule by hiding in the mountains.
"These groups escaped Spanish control for almost 200 years," Garcia Sanchez said. "They fled to the San Carlos mountain range where they had water, plants and animals to eat. The Spaniards didn't go into the mountain and its valleys."
