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TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - Archaeologists in Tucson are studying reddish-brown pots that they say represent a rare and unusual find.

The pots that likely were used to store food and water were discovered by U.S. Border Patrol agents at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument earlier this year. The agents had been looking for signs of illegal immigrants hiding in the mountains.

Archaeologists don't yet know the age of the pots or who made them. But they tell the Arizona Republic (http://bit.ly/QIm5vt ) that the pots are unusual because they've been undisturbed for possibly hundreds of years.

Border agents found a large pot in February in a mountainous area of the monument.

Less than a month later, they found three more clay vessels in the area once inhabited by the Hohokam and Tohono O'odham.

Image courtesy Organpipe Cactus National Monument