Archaeologists believe a newly discovered 1,100-year-old tomb in Mexico may hold clues to finally understanding the decline of the Mayan empire.

The ancient tomb was discovered at the site of the Mayan city of Tonina in Mexico’s state of Chiapas, on the border with Guatemala.

Experts have dated the find – which included a stone sarcophagus, ceramics and human bones – to between 840 and 900 AD. – read more

“This is very interesting, because we are going to see from the bones who these people are, after the Maya empire.

“Everyone who has studied the Mayan world has the same concern because from 820 AD onwards, all areas of the ancient empire were abandoned.

“That marvellous ancient civilisation completely disappeared and in its place, these Toltec groups appeared.

“They already had a corporate organisation which was not elitist and destroyed what the ancient dynasties had created.”

But some experts have expressed doubt over the significance of the find.

“One tomb, even if it is very fancy, isn’t going to answer big things about the trajectory of Maya history all over the place … maybe locally,” said David Stuart, a specialist in Mayan epigraphy at the University of Texas.