What is said to be the first found in Mexico, a 1,000-year-old mummified dog is now being studied by Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH).

The dog was one of many relics and archaeological materials found in 1953 to recently be sent to the INAH. It was among around 2,500 pieces uncovered in the Candelaria Cave (Cueva de la Candelaria) in Coahuila.

According to archaeologist Alejandro Bautista Valdespino, this dog “reinforces the idea that dogs were placed as companions in the funerary traditions of the region’s nomads, it also presents the possibility that these animals were domesticated,”

Mummified canines had previously only been found in Peru and Egypt.

Fellow archaeologist Isaac Aquino Toledo:

The mummified dog will be the first elemnet to be analyzed; radiographies will be made to identify lesions, pathologies and possible cause of death; other studies, such as those on DNA, cranium, bones and teeth measurements, and carbon-14 analysis will be performed to determine the species type and family, and precise age [of the dog].

Following analysis, the recovered objects, including the canine, will be but on display for the first time in Laguna’s Regional Museum.