Earliest Mixtec Cremations Found; Show Elite Ate Dog

An ancient burial site in Mexico contains evidence that Mixtec Indians conducted funerary rituals involving cremation as far back as 3,000 years ago.

The find represents the earliest known hints that Mixtecs used this burial practice, which was later reserved for Mixtec kings and Aztec emperors, according to researchers who excavated the site.

Evidence from the site also suggests that a class of elite leaders emerged among the Mixtecs as early as 1100 B.C.