Manuel Villarruel, the delegate of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) in Puebla, confirmed the discovery of rock paintings in caves located in the community of Santa María Coapan, Tehuacán. He indicated that these figures, known to locals as "Las Manitas," appear to be authentic and date back to prehistoric times.
Villarruel mentioned that the Archaeology Coordination, along with local authorities, will initiate a legal process to categorize these paintings as Puebla's cultural heritage and to explore ways to exhibit them to the public. Recently, the Tehuacán city council announced that they had hired experts to conduct various tests on the paintings, which confirmed their authenticity and age. Consequently, they requested INAH's official intervention to verify this information.
Archaeologists studying the images found in the caves estimate their age to be over 10,000 years. While the exact location of the caves has been kept confidential, it is known to be near the Cuacnopalan-Oaxaca highway, and some of the figures include around 30 handprints in reddish and black tones. Villarruel noted that they are considering collaboration with state and municipal authorities to create a site museum to showcase this remarkable discovery to the public.