Legend about school in Mexico being an ancient cemetery turns out to be true
While renovating an elementary school in Mexico, workers stumbled upon a historic coffin and collection of burials — and confirmed an urban legend about the 400-year-old building.
Valentín Gómez Farías Elementary School in Zacatecas sits within a 17th century building previously used as a convent and hospital. Perhaps because of this history, one theory about the school’s past is that it was once an ancient cemetery, Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History said in a May 13 news release.
That theory turned out to be true, as workers renovating the building recently discovered.
Renovation work on the elementary school began in September 2024 and ended in April, officials said. During the last week of the project, the team dug some holes inside the school to take soil samples and uncovered some bones.
Archaeologists stepped in to keep digging and soon unearthed a wooden coffin on top of three more burials, the institute said.
Photos show the small coffin, which measured about 31 inches by 14 inches and was decorated with some blue diamond engravings. Inside the coffin were the remains of a young child wrapped in a shroud, officials said.
Archaeologists identified the finds as the bones of eight infants and an adult, likely dating to the 19th century when the building was used by a religious order dedicated to medicine.
Officials don’t know the exact age of the bones or any details about the deceased individuals but plan to analyze the finds further.
The renovation work also uncovered a coin from 1862, symbolic carving, buttons, fabric scraps, ceramics and a paper with an unknown inscription, the institute said.
Officials hope the finds will provide more information about previous inhabitants of Zacatecas and their burial practices. The artifacts and historic remains will be kept in the Guadalupe Museum and studied more in depth.
Valentín Gómez Farías Elementary School is in Zacatecas, a city in central Mexico and a roughly 375-mile drive northwest from Mexico City.
Google Translate was used to translate the news release from Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH).
This story was originally published May 16, 2025 at 11:59 AM with the headline "Legend about school in Mexico being an ancient cemetery turns out to be true."
