Prehistoric Skeleton of a Teen Girl Discovered in Underwater Mexican Cave (VIDEO)

Deep within an underwater cave in Mexico, a skeleton has remained undisturbed for thousands of years. Now, divers have explored this deep cave and uncovered this nearly-complete skeleton of a teenage girl, shedding light on the early history of man in America.

"These discoveries are extremely significant," said Pilar Luna, one of the researchers, in a news release. "Not only do they shed light on the origins of modern Americans, they clearly demonstrate the paleontological potential of the Yucatan Peninsula and the importance of conserving Mexico's unique heritage."

This is actually the first time that researchers have been able to match a skeleton with an early American skull and facial features with DNA linked to the hunter-gatherers who moved onto the Bering Land Bridge from northeast Asia anywhere between 26,000 to 18,000 years ago. The skeleton itself is dated older than 12,000 years, and it includes all of the major bones in the body, an intact cranium and even a set of teeth.

Actually getting to the skeleton wasn't easy, though. The remote underwater location was at the bottom of Hoyo Negro, deep beneath the jungles of the Yucatan Peninsula. Scuba divers had to carefully travel into the depths and then search the area for archaeological findings. Yet the efforts were worth it.

The researchers assessed the skeleton's age by analyzing its tooth enamel and bat-dropped seeds in addition to calcite deposits on the bones.  The site didn't just contain the teen's skeleton, though. There were more than 26 large mammals discovered at the site, including saber-toothed cats and giant ground sloths.

"This expedition produced some of the most compelling evidence to date of a link between Paleoamericans, the first people to inhabit the Americas after the most recent ice age, and modern Native Americans," said James Chatters, one of the researchers, in a news release. "What this suggests is that the differences between the two are the result of in situ evolution rather than separate migrations from distinct Old World homelands."

The findings are published in the journal Science.

Want to learn more? Check out the video of the dive here.