Indigenous wall paintings uncovered at Mexican convent

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Indigenous symbols like a feather headdress, an axe and a shield have been found under layers of lime plaster at open-air chapels in a convent just south of Mexico City. The convent dates back to the 1500s, when Spanish Roman Catholic priests built open-air church patios to teach and convert Indigenous groups after the 1521 conquest of Mexico. Indigenous Mexicans preferred holding religious ceremonies in the open, and were reportedly distrustful of large, roofed spaces like churches. The finds announced Monday suggest the Spanish not only altered their church architecture, but also allowed masons to paint pre-Hispanic designs on the walls.