24 June 2011 Last updated at 21:53 ET
Video camera reveals secrets of ancient Mayan tomb
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The inside of a Mayan tomb thought to be 1,500 years old has been filmed by archaeologists.
Using a tiny video camera, the researchers were able to capture images of the burial chamber in Palenque in south-eastern Mexico.
As the device was lowered 16ft (5m) down into the tomb, they saw red paint and black figures emblazoned on its walls.
The scientists say the images will shed new light on the Mayan civilisation.
Royal necropolis?
The tomb in Palenque was discovered in 1999 and then filmed using a tiny camera lowered on a pole, but archaeologists have not been able to excavate for fear of undermining the pyramid.
Palenque was a Mayan city-state in what is now Mexico’s Chiapas state, but after its decline during the 8th Century AD it was absorbed into the jungle.
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