archaeologicalnews:

Archaeologists have uncovered the oldest known human burial in lower Central America: the skeletal remains of a mysterious woman who lived 5,900 years ago in what is now Nicaragua, a new study finds.

In general, tropical places don’t preserve human remains well, but in this case, the ancient women’s bones remained intact because of where she was buried, said study lead researcher Mirjana Roksandic, a professor of anthropology at the University of Winnipeg in Canada.

“[She] was buried in a shell mound, which reduced the acidity of the soil and helped preserve the remains,” Roksandic told Live Science in an email. Ancient people created shell mounds for a number of reasons, including to bury their dead or to mark the landscape, she said. Read more.