MEXICO CITY.- Mexico's National Anthropology and History Institute, or INAH, announced the removal from the archaeological site of Teotihuacan outside Mexico City the 3,000 lights of its new illumination system, whose installation was called off amid strong criticism.

The installation of lights to modernize the illumination of this popular archaeological area, site of the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon, was questioned at the end of last year because of the damage the work was causing.

Critics including several lawmakers said that the use of drills to install the lights damaged the monumental structures.

Under the circumstances, INAH sought advice from a commission of experts that finally decided in March that the system should be removed. The new lighting was never put into operation.

Eliminating the 3,000 lights distributed around the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon and the Avenue of the Dead took several months and was finished "in the last few days," according to the institute. The archaeological area remained open throughout the process.

The dismantling was done "without any damage to the pre-Columbian structures," it said.

"Worth mentioning is the fact that the holes (for installing the lights) were drilled in the coating of cement and stones on the Pyramid of the Sun" applied during the 20th century for maintenance purposes, INAH said.

The archaeological complex of Teotihuacan, one of the key locations in Mexico's pre-Columbian past, was inhabited by the Teotihuacans and was the focus of power in the central Valley of Mexico almost 2,000 years ago. EFE