9 July 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Archaeologists may have found Lyobaa, the Zapotec Land of the Dead

An archaeological team from the Lyobaa project has confirmed the existence of a vast Zapotec underground complex in their study to explore the underground world of the Mitla archaeological site.

Mitla is an archaeological site associated with the Zapotec culture, located in the Oaxaca Valley in the present-day state of Oaxaca in southern Mexico. The Zapotec first inhabited it during the Classic Period (AD 100-650), having first developed from a fortified village into a large religious center.

The Zapotec believed that Mitla served as a gateway between the worlds of the living and the worlds of the dead for the burial of the Zapotec elite, hence the Nahuatl name Mictlán, which means “place of the dead” or “underworld.”

It has long been believed that the ancient Zapotec people constructed a massive and intricate labyrinth of chambers and passageways beneath monumental stone structures found at the Mitla archaeological site in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca. The goal of this system of tunnels was to eventually lead to Lyobaa, the entrance to the Zapotecan underworld or Land of the Dead.

As part of a new study led by the Lyobaa Project with support from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), researchers launched an exploration project in Mitla in 2022.

Their research has also revealed fascinating details about the various subterranean structures, revealing crucial information about a spiritual mecca built by and for the Zapotecan people who occupied southern Mexico during the pre-Columbian era.

Researchers are using geophysical prospection techniques to confirm the existence of previously undetected underground chambers and passageways beneath Mitla.

The technologies deployed included Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT), and Seismic Noise Tomography, each of which uses electromagnetic emissions to penetrate the surface of the earth and generate images of what lies on the other side of that physical barrier.

The researchers created composite 3D models of the subterranean world found just below the surface at Mitla by combining the results of their intensive scanning procedures.

Most importantly, the geophysical survey findings unequivocally confirm the presence of multiple underground chambers and tunnels winding their way through the earth beneath a set of structures known as the Church Group (there are five sets of above-ground structures at Mitla, one of which features a Catholic church built in the late 16th century).

The surveys also looked into areas beneath the Palace of Columns, the site’s most elaborate building and a member of the so-called Columns Group of buildings. Here, the scans produced images that provided information on the building’s earliest stages of construction.

The researchers will continue to study the results of their initial explorations, looking for details that might have been missed during the first analysis.

Cover Photo: One of the 3D models of the spaces underneath Mitla. (©Marco M. Vigato / Arx Project )

Arx Project

Related Articles

Lead Glass Jewelry was Mass-Produced in Medieval Poland from Local Raw Material

7 April 2025

7 April 2025

Recent archaeological research has unveiled significant insights into the mass production of lead glass jewelry in medieval Poland, confirming that...

Analysis Of Roman Coins sheds light on the Roman financial crisis

17 April 2022

17 April 2022

New scientific analysis of the composition of Roman denarii has brought fresh understanding to a financial crisis briefly mentioned by...

Fossil of a hominid child who died almost 250,000 years ago discovered in South Africa

8 November 2021

8 November 2021

A team of international and South African researchers uncovered the fossil remains of an early hominid kid who died almost...

Crusade period grave field and a sword discovered in Finland

15 October 2023

15 October 2023

A large cemetery from the time of the Crusades was discovered near a medieval stone church in Salo Perttel, a...

Serbian Archaeologists Unearth Roman Triumphal Arch Dedicated to Emperor Caracalla

24 January 2024

24 January 2024

Archaeologists in Serbia have unearthed an ancient Roman triumphal arch dating back to the third century at Viminacium, a Roman...

2,000-Year-Old Mysterious Kangju Burial Mound Filled with Gold Jewelry and Mirror Found in Kazakhstan

2 June 2024

2 June 2024

Archaeologists in Kazakhstan have unearthed gold jewelry, arrowheads, and a large, bronze mirror from three burial mounds in the Tolebaitobe...

Medieval Islamic glass of Scottish Caerlaverock Castle reveals untold histories

23 October 2022

23 October 2022

Discovered by archaeologists at Caerlaverock Castle, eleven kilometers south of Dumfries on Scotland’s south coast, a trio of Islamic glass...

Excavations in Poland uncover Goth graves filled with ornate jewellery

17 August 2023

17 August 2023

A 2,000-year-old Goth burial site filled with ancient jewels has been discovered in Wda Landscape Park (Wdecki Park Krajobrazowy) near...

New Evidence could Change the Date People First Arrived in North America

2 June 2021

2 June 2021

While investigating the origins of agriculture, researchers made an unexpected discovery. According to an unexpected finding made by an Iowa...

A first-of-its-kind Ayyanar stone idol found in Vellore, India

25 June 2022

25 June 2022

An Ayyanar stone idol, the first of its kind in Vellore, was discovered at Thandalai Krishnapuram (TK Puram) in Tamil...

Jiroft: The Mysterious Rival of Mesopotamia and the Dawn of an Ancient Civilization

24 March 2025

24 March 2025

Recent archaeological discoveries in southeast Iran are reshaping our understanding of early civilizations, particularly the Jiroft Civilization, which thrived around...

Unique and very well-preserved prehistoric engravings found in southwestern Catalonia

23 March 2023

23 March 2023

Significant prehistoric rock art has been discovered in La Febro, in southwestern Catalonia. The team that discovered the art inside...

A rare Roman cornu mouthpiece found at Vindolanda

23 September 2022

23 September 2022

Just south of Hadrian’s Wall, archaeologists have discovered an extremely rare Roman cornu mouthpiece beneath the remains of the ancient...

Japan’s Oldest Multiplication Table Discovered in Nara, Dating Back 1,300 Years

7 September 2024

7 September 2024

A strip of wood discovered in the ruins of Fujiwara Palace in Nara Prefecture turned out to be part of...

Outrage in Türkiye: 3,000-Year-Old Unesco Tomb in Phrygian Valley Turned Into Café

1 July 2025

1 July 2025

A 3,000-year-old rock-cut tomb located in the historical Phrygian Valley—hailed as Türkiye’s “second Cappadocia” and listed on the UNESCO World...