An altar and a stela estimated to date from as early as 800 B.C.
were found at the Chalcatzingo archaeological site in the
central state of Morelos, Mexico's National Institute of
Anthropology and History, or INAH, said. The altar is
rectangular and covered with engravings representing rain A few
meters (yards) away from the altar was an unfinished stela
standing 1.7 meters (5 feet 6 inches) tall. The pieces are
thought to have been made between 800 and 500 B.C., about the
same age as another altar and a relief depicting three cats that
archaeologists from INAH's Morelos Center found at Chalcatzingo
less than a year ago. The latest discoveries came during
excavations of a residential area that appears to date from the
Late Classical period of the Olmec culture, A.D. 700-900,
archaeologist Carolina Meza said. She said the difference in age
between the new pieces and their surroundings can be explained
by an Olmec practice of repurposing and - in some cases -
decommissioning architectonic elements. The altar an