Purepecha Digs

The Purepecha Digs is a late Archaic period settlement and burial site in Michoacan State, Mexico, dating to approximately 2570-2320 BC and containing the oldest known burial site in Mesoamerica. A 4,500-year-old skeleton was discovered in volcanic ash, with the individual's upper front teeth removed, possibly to accommodate ceremonial dentures fashioned from jaguar or wolf palate -- among the earliest dental work in the Americas. Artifacts indicate long-distance trade, maize and squash cultivation, and social stratification during the Archaic period.