Overview
- Federal and state leaders, including Culture Secretary Claudia Curiel and Oaxaca Governor Salomón Jara, toured Tumba 10 in late January to review ongoing stabilization and restoration.
- INAH describes the chamber in San Pablo Huitzo as dating to around 600 CE and featuring an owl sculpture above the entrance, polychrome murals, carved friezes, calendrical inscriptions, and human guardian figures.
- The site is under federal protection while an interdisciplinary INAH team conducts registration, mural conservation, epigraphic analysis, and physical anthropology studies.
- Officials have characterized the discovery as one of Mexico’s most significant of the past decade for what it reveals about Zapotec writing, cosmology, and social organization.
- Local residents reported the find and are recognized as first guardians, as conservators note fragile conditions from roots, humidity, salts, and insects that will guide safe access plans.