PUEBLA.- Archaeologists working in the mountains of northeastern Puebla are literally uncovering the past beneath the streets of a modern town.

Since December 2025, specialists from Mexico’s Ministry of Culture, through the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH), have been carrying out an archaeological salvage project in Xiutetelco, where public works unexpectedly revealed the remains of a large pre-Hispanic city hidden for centuries below the current urban center.

What today appears to be a quiet municipality once covered nearly 28 hectares and played a far more prominent role in regional history. The architectural platforms recently identified suggest the presence of an extensive ceremonial precinct that also served as a strategic node for long-distance trade, linking Xiutetelco to powerful Mesoamerican centers such as Teotihuacan and Tula.

A discovery triggered by everyday urban works

The archaeological intervention began as a preventive measure during repaving works, the installation of rainwater collection systems, drainage, and underground cabling along Cuauhtémoc Street. The infrastructure project, promoted by the Xiutetelco municipal government, is being carried out in close coordination with the INAH Puebla Center as part of a broader effort to protect archaeological heritage while allowing the town to modernize.

For archaeologist Alberto Díez Barroso Repizo, who coordinates the project, the importance of the work goes beyond the immediate discoveries. The current excavation continues a line of investigation first opened in the 1940s by José García Payón and later revisited during inspections in the 1990s. “What we are seeing now allows us to finally understand the scale and continuity of this settlement,” he explains.

Everyday life, trade, and ritual

Working alongside Díez Barroso, a multidisciplinary team of archaeologists has recovered ceramic fragments, architectural elements, and other materials that shed light on how Xiutetelco’s ancient inhabitants lived and how the city fit into wider commercial and cultural networks.

According to the researchers, the evidence points to uninterrupted occupation from before the Classic period (100–650 CE) through the end of the Early Postclassic (900–1200 CE), revealing a long cultural continuum rather than a short-lived settlement.

One of the most striking finds came in early January 2026: a globular ceramic pot about 30 centimeters in diameter, likely dating to the Epiclassic period (600–900 CE). The vessel was discovered next to the platform of a large structure, similar to others documented in nearby parts of Puebla. Such pots are often associated with funerary practices, particularly the burial of newborn infants.

“This piece gives us a rare opportunity to understand ritual activity within the ceremonial space,” says Díez Barroso. “Our current line of research points to ancestor worship associated with one of the platforms.”

From excavation to community memory

Because of its fragility, the pot was removed in a single block and will be carefully excavated and studied at the Xiutetelco Community Museum. There, specialists will analyze its contents and original function. The museum, managed by a local civil association working in collaboration with INAH, has safeguarded pre-Hispanic artifacts from the region for more than two decades and is considered one of the most important cultural spaces in northeastern Puebla.

The burial of newborns inside ceramic vessels was a widespread practice across Mesoamerica, documented in the Maya region, the Gulf Coast, and even in neighborhoods of Teotihuacan, where research has shown strong cultural ties to coastal areas.

Although the Xiutetelco project is still in its early stages, archaeologists are optimistic. Ongoing excavations are expected to clarify the site’s relationship with Huastec culture and determine whether the ancient city may also have functioned as a Totonac population center.

For Gustavo Donnadieu Cervantes, director of the INAH Puebla Center, the significance of the finds lies not only in academic research but also in public access. He has expressed support for integrating the newly recovered artifacts into the Xiutetelco Community Museum’s collection, ensuring that the town’s deep past remains visible, protected, and closely tied to the community that now lives above it.