May 9, 2008—A skeleton emerges from the floor of an ancient grave in a photo taken in April 2008, one of nearly a thousand tombs recently discovered in Bogotá, Colombia.

Builders clearing land for a housing project in the city's Usme district uncovered the burial site last year. (Read the full story.)

The tombs range in date from the first century to the 16th century A.D., based on analysis of pottery found with the remains.

One skeleton is of a young woman who seems to have been buried alive, possibly in a ritual of human sacrifice, said Ana Maria Groot, one of the lead anthropologists from the National University of Colombia working at the site.

"Her mouth is open as if in terror, and her hands seem contracted as if she had tried grabbing hold of something," Groot said.

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