Guachimontones - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Teuchitlan tradition Culture – Archaeological Site





Name:	Guachimontones archaeological site
Type	Mesoamerican archaeology
Location	Teuchitlán Teuchitlán Teuchitlán is a town and municipality, in Jalisco in central-western Mexico. The municipality covers an area of 285.53 km².As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 8,361.Tour's & TravelVisit Our Official Web Site:... , Jalisco Jalisco Jalisco officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is located in Western Mexico and divided in 125 municipalities and its capital city is Guadalajara.It is one of the more important states...
Region	Western Mesoamerica Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a region and culture area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, within which a number of pre-Columbian societies flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and...
Coordinates	20°41′29"N 103°50′58"W
Culture	Shaft tomb tradition Western Mexico shaft tomb tradition The Western Mexico shaft tomb tradition or shaft tomb culture refers to a set of interlocked cultural traits found in the western Mexican states of Jalisco, Nayarit, and, to a lesser extent, Colima to its south, roughly dating to the period between 300 BCE and 400 CE, although there is not wide... – Teuchitlan tradition Teuchitlan tradition The Teuchitlan tradition was a pre-Columbian complex society that occupied areas of the modern-day Mexican states of Nayarit and Jalisco. Although evidence of Teuchitlan tradition architecture appears as early as 300 BCE, its rise is generally dated to the end of the Formative period, 200 CE. The...
Language	Nahuatl Nahuatl Nahuatl is thought to mean "a good, clear sound" This language name has several spellings, among them náhuatl , Naoatl, Nauatl, Nahuatl, Nawatl. In a back formation from the name of the language, the ethnic group of Nahuatl speakers are called Nahua... - Totorames - Cora language Cora language The Cora language is an indigenous language of Mexico of the Uto-Aztecan language family. It is spoken by the ethnic group that is widely known as the Cora but who refer to themselves as Naáyarite. The Cora inhabit the northern sierra of the Mexican state Nayarit which is named after its indigenous... - Chibcha language Chibcha language Chibcha, also known as Muisca or Mosca, is an extinct Chibchan language of Colombia, formerly spoken by the Muisca people, a complex indigenous civilization of South America and the present-day Colombian region. Scholars believe the Chibcha language arose in South America and then migrated with...
Chronology	300 BCE - 900 CE
Period	Mesoamerican, Late Classical, Postclassical
Apogee	200 – 400 CE
INAH Web Page	Guachimontones archaeological site official web page

Los Guachimontones (alternatively Huachimontones) is a prehispanic archaeological site

Archaeological site

An archaeological site is a place in which evidence of past activity is preserved , and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology and represents a part of the archaeological record.Beyond this, the definition and geographical extent of a 'site' can vary widely,...

near the Mexican

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

town of Teuchitlán

Teuchitlán

Teuchitlán is a town and municipality, in Jalisco in central-western Mexico. The municipality covers an area of 285.53 km².As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 8,361.Tour's & TravelVisit Our Official Web Site:...

in the state of Jalisco

Jalisco

Jalisco officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is located in Western Mexico and divided in 125 municipalities and its capital city is Guadalajara.It is one of the more important states...

about an hour west of Guadalajara

Guadalajara

Guadalajara may refer to:In Mexico:*Guadalajara, Jalisco, the capital of the state of Jalisco and second largest city in Mexico**Guadalajara Metropolitan Area*University of Guadalajara, a public university in Guadalajara, Jalisco...

. It is the major site of the so-called Teuchitlan tradition

Teuchitlan tradition

The Teuchitlan tradition was a pre-Columbian complex society that occupied areas of the modern-day Mexican states of Nayarit and Jalisco. Although evidence of Teuchitlan tradition architecture appears as early as 300 BCE, its rise is generally dated to the end of the Formative period, 200 CE. The...

, a complex society that existed from as early as 300 BCE

Common Era

Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era...

until perhaps 900 CE.

The dominant features at los Guachimontones are circular stepped pyramid

Mesoamerican pyramids

Mesoamerican pyramids, pyramid-shaped structures, are an important part of ancient Mesoamerican architecture. These structures were usually step pyramids with temples on top – more akin to the ziggurats of Mesopotamia than to the pyramids of Ancient Egypt...

s in the middle of circular building complexes. The 60 feet (18.3 m) tall pyramid at Circle 2 has 13 high steps leading to an upper level, which was then topped with another 4 high steps. A post hole was located at the very highest level, most likely for Volador ceremonies The pyramids may also have supported small temples.

The word Teuchitlán is derived from Teotzitlán or Teutzitlán interpreted as "place dedicated to the divine", "place of the God Tenoch " or "place dedicated to the revered God".

Possibly the city foundation goes back to the Aztecs, which erected it on a hill called Huachimontón, north of its current location. It was founded by members of Nahuatlacas groups that developed central Mexico during the postclassical period, however it is known that buildings at Teuchitlán were built prior to such development. The creative culture that constructed "'Guachimontones"' is called Teuchitlan tradition

Teuchitlan tradition

, its apogee was between 200 and 400 CE, disappearing in about 900 CE, possibly before the arrival of the anahuaca colonists.

UNESCO World Heritage List

UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

has added the whole region, including the nearby tequila

Tequila

Tequila is a spirit made from the blue agave plant, primarily in the area surrounding the city of Tequila, northwest of Guadalajara, and in the highlands of the western Mexican state of Jalisco....

distilleries, to its World Heritage List. Due to heavy looting, the site was also included on the 2008 World Monuments Watch list of 100 Most Endangered Sites.

Background

There are about 950 archaeological sites under investigation in the State of Jalisco. According to the National Institute of anthropology and history of Jalisco, there may be more than 2,000 archaeological sites in the State. Include not only large cities or ceremonial centers, as archaeological sites are considered: "any place with vestiges of ancient human activity."

Teuchitlán was a village dependent of the Etzatlán lordship, was inhabited by tecos groups.

The specific architectural style of this site is called "Guachimontón", and is assigned to the mounds and circular staggered levels structures. It is believed that such structures, in the particular case of the Teuchitlán

Teuchitlán

were used for ceremonies to honor the wind God Ehecatl

Ehecatl

Ehecatl is a pre-Columbian deity associated with the wind, who features in Aztec mythology and the mythologies of other cultures from the central Mexico region of Mesoamerica. He is most usually interpreted as the aspect of the Feathered Serpent deity as a god of wind, and is therefore also known...

, and which included an analog of the Volador ceremony

Danza de los Voladores de Papantla

The Danza de los Voladores is a ceremony/ritual which has its roots in the pre-Hispanic period and presently best known as associated with the town of Papantla, Veracruz. It is believed to have originated with the Nahua, Huastec and Otomi peoples in central Mexico, and then spread throughout most...

, where a priest climbed the pole to honor the divinity. The pole was placed atop the structure.

It is unknown who named this site "Los Guachimontones". It is believed that Guaje comes from the Nahuatl "Huaxe" word that combined with the Spanish word "montones” (bunches), could be translated as "bunch of gourds", a common tree species in the area.

Discovery

The site was discovered in 1970 and the important research only began in 1996. However, despite little research and knowledge of the site, important information about the site is known, thanks to the work of US researcher Phil Weigand, his wife Arcelia García and a research team. He proposed the origin of the city between 200 and 400 CE and its fall in about 900 CE, although it is known it is over 2 thousand years old.

The site currently covers some 19 hectares, although it is estimated that during its apogee had over 24 thousand, and it was inhabited by about 40 thousand people.

As in many other places in the continent, a common denominator, for example in Calixtlahuaca

Calixtlahuaca

Calixtlahuaca is a Postclassic period Mesoamerican archaeological site, located near the present-day city of Toluca in the State of Mexico...

and in Tiahuanaco, Bolivia, the Guachimontones constructions have been neglected through many years, site stones have been used to build streets and construct modern houses in Teuchitlán.

Language

Although the Guachimontón word is of Nahuatl origin, archaeologist Weigand is certain it was not the official language, instead, perhaps the "Totorame" or "Chipcha". Guachimontón means enclosed place, alluding to the constructions discovered at the site: concentric circles.

The Totorame language is a variant of the Nayarit

Nayarit

Nayarit officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Nayarit is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 20 municipalities and its capital city is Tepic.It is located in Western Mexico...

cora

Cora language

The Cora language is an indigenous language of Mexico of the Uto-Aztecan language family. It is spoken by the ethnic group that is widely known as the Cora but who refer to themselves as Naáyarite. The Cora inhabit the northern sierra of the Mexican state Nayarit which is named after its indigenous...

, a peaceful ethnic group (Cora people

Cora people

The Cora are an indigenous ethnic group of Western Central Mexico that live in the Sierra de Nayarit and in La Mesa de Nayar in the Mexican states of Jalisco and Nayarit. They call themselves náayarite , whence the name of the present day Mexican state of Nayarit...

that did not have large cities, which raises the question as to why the Teuchitlán tradition could have taken their dialect, although very feasible geographically; as far as the Chibcha language

Chibchan languages

The Chibchan languages make up a language family indigenous to the Isthmo-Colombian area, which extends from eastern Honduras to northern Colombia and includes populations of these countries as well as Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama...

, is a South American language spoken by the Chibchas

Muisca

Muisca was the Chibcha-speaking tribe that formed the Muisca Confederation of the central highlands of present-day Colombia. They were encountered by the Spanish Empire in 1537, at the time of the conquest...

, and although contact Maya and other mesoamerican civilizations is documented with the southern cone, there is no clear link between them and western Mexico.

Cora Language

The Cora language is an native language of Mexico

Languages of Mexico

The government of Mexico recognizes 68 distinct indigenous Amerindian languages as national languages in addition to Spanish. According to the Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples and National Institute of Indigenous Languages [INALI], while 10-14% of the population identifies as...

of the Uto-Aztecan

Uto-Aztecan languages

Uto-Aztecan or Uto-Aztekan is a Native American language family consisting of over 30 languages. Uto-Aztecan languages are found from the Great Basin of the Western United States , through western, central and southern Mexico Uto-Aztecan or Uto-Aztekan is a Native American language family...

language family

Historical linguistics

Historical linguistics is the study of language change. It has five main concerns:* to describe and account for observed changes in particular languages...

. It is spoken by the ethnic group that is widely known as the Cora

Cora people

but who refer to themselves as Naáyarite. The Cora inhabit the northern sierra of the Mexican state Nayarit

Nayarit

which is named after its indigenous inhabitants. Cora is a Mesoamerican language and shows many of the traits defining the Mesoamerican Linguistic Area

Mesoamerican Linguistic Area

The Mesoamerican Linguistic Area is a sprachbund containing many of the languages natively spoken in the cultural area of Mesoamerica. This sprachbund is defined by an array of syntactic, lexical and phonological traits as well as a number of ethnolinguistic traits found in the languages of...

. Under the "Law of Linguistic Rights" it is recognized as a "national language" along with 62 other indigenous languages and Spanish

Spanish language

Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

which have the same "validity" in Mexico

Teuchitlán Tradition

The Teuchitlan tradition was a pre-Columbian complex society that occupied areas of the modern-day Mexican states of Nayarit

Nayarit

and Jalisco

Jalisco

. Although evidence of Teuchitlan tradition architecture appears as early as 300 BCE

Common Era

, its rise is generally dated to the end of the Formative period

Mesoamerican chronology

Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian , the Archaic , the Preclassic , the Classic , and the Postclassic...

, 200 CE. The tradition is rather abruptly extinguished at the end of the Classic era

Mesoamerican chronology

Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian , the Archaic , the Preclassic , the Classic , and the Postclassic...

, ca.

Circa

Circa , usually abbreviated c. or ca. , means "approximately" in the English language, usually referring to a date...

900 CE.

The Teuchitlan tradition is notable for its circular central plazas and conical step pyramids

Mesoamerican pyramids

. According to researcher Phil Weigand, these unusual structures are "unique in the Mesoamerican architectural repertoire and indeed are not found anywhere else in the world".

Societal structure

There are several characteristics of a ranked society

Elite

Elite refers to an exceptional or privileged group that wields considerable power within its sphere of influence...

present within Teuchitlan tradition societies — the circular plazas, for example, were restricted to the elite. However, based semi-fortified sites excavated in key mountain pass

Mountain pass

A mountain pass is a route through a mountain range or over a ridge. If following the lowest possible route, a pass is locally the highest point on that route...

es on the edge of the Teuchitlan core area, it is thought that the larger Teuchitlan tradition area was politically fragmented.

The last of the tradition

The onset of the Postclassic era

Mesoamerican chronology

Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian , the Archaic , the Preclassic , the Classic , and the Postclassic...

in western Mexico, as elsewhere in Mesoamerica, was marked by abrupt changes. In roughly 900 CE, the circular pyramids, plazas, and concentric groupings began to be replaced by the more prosaic rectangular architecture – the Teuchitlán tradition had suffered a "total and definitive collapse", a change so abrupt that it has been assumed that it was driven from outside, perhaps by the ascending Tarascan state

Tarascan state

The Tarascan state was a state in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, roughly covering the geographic area of the present-day Mexican state of Michoacán. At the time of the Spanish conquest of Mexico it was the second-largest state in Mexico. The state was founded in the early 14th century and lost its...

.

The Teuchitlan tradition is an outgrowth of the earlier shaft tomb tradition

Western Mexico shaft tomb tradition

The Western Mexico shaft tomb tradition or shaft tomb culture refers to a set of interlocked cultural traits found in the western Mexican states of Jalisco, Nayarit, and, to a lesser extent, Colima to its south, roughly dating to the period between 300 BCE and 400 CE, although there is not wide...

, but with a shift away the smaller centers to larger sites such Los Guachimontones.

Ehécatl

Ehecatl is a prehispanic

Pre-Columbian

The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the American continents, spanning the time of the original settlement in the Upper Paleolithic period to European colonization during...

deity associated with the wind

Wind

Wind is the flow of gases on a large scale. On Earth, wind consists of the bulk movement of air. In outer space, solar wind is the movement of gases or charged particles from the sun through space, while planetary wind is the outgassing of light chemical elements from a planet's atmosphere into space...

, who features in Aztec mythology

Aztec mythology

The aztec civilization recognized a polytheistic mythology, which contained the many deities and supernatural creatures from their religious beliefs. "orlando"- History :...

and the mythologies of other cultures from the central Mexico region of Mesoamerica

Mesoamerica

Mesoamerica is a region and culture area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, within which a number of pre-Columbian societies flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and...

. He is most usually interpreted as the aspect of the Feathered Serpent

Feathered Serpent (deity)

The Feathered Serpent was a prominent supernatural entity or deity, found in many Mesoamerican religions. It was called Quetzalcoatl among the Aztecs, Kukulkan among the Yucatec Maya, and Q'uq'umatz and Tohil among the K'iche' Maya...

deity (Quetzalcoatl

Quetzalcoatl

Quetzalcoatl is a Mesoamerican deity whose name comes from the Nahuatl language and has the meaning of "feathered serpent". The worship of a feathered serpent deity is first documented in Teotihuacan in the first century BCE or first century CE...

in Aztec

Aztec

The Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the late post-classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.Aztec is the...

and other Nahua cultures) as a god of wind, and is therefore also known as Ehecatl-Quetzalcoatl. Ehecatl also figures prominently as one of the creator gods and culture heroes in the mythical creation accounts documented for pre-Columbian central Mexican cultures.

Since the wind blows in all directions, Ehecatl was associated with all the cardinal direction

Cardinal direction

The four cardinal directions or cardinal points are the directions of north, east, south, and west, commonly denoted by their initials: N, E, S, W. East and west are at right angles to north and south, with east being in the direction of rotation and west being directly opposite. Intermediate...

s. His temple was built as a cylinder in order to reduce the air resistance, and was sometimes portrayed with two protruding masks through which the wind blew.

The many round buildings in Mesoamerica, are generally related Ehécatl. The circle is a perfect geometric figure, has neither beginning nor end, it is infinite, as the gods.

The Site

The Guajes place the complex organizational system was very similar to other neighboring cultures with a ritual center and other residential places. Teuchitlán culture (the Guachimontones inhabitants) specialized in the use of the Obsidian

Obsidian

Obsidian is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed as an extrusive igneous rock.It is produced when felsic lava extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with minimum crystal growth...

in their crafts and sculptures, without excluding other equally important materials as Copper

Copper

Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...

, Gold

Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...

, Silver

Silver

Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...

, Malachite

Malachite

Malachite is a copper carbonate mineral, with the formula Cu2CO32. This green-colored mineral crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system, and most often forms botryoidal, fibrous, or stalagmitic masses. Individual crystals are rare but do occur as slender to acicular prisms...

, the pseudo-cloisonné

Cloisonné

Cloisonné is an ancient technique for decorating metalwork objects, in recent centuries using vitreous enamel, and in older periods also inlays of cut gemstones, glass, and other materials. The resulting objects can also be called cloisonné...

paintings etc. It also was closely linked to agriculture; their irrigation system surpassed their times

The site consists of structures forming concentric circles, used to worship their gods, mainly to Ehecatl

Ehecatl

. An aerial view shows the ceremonial buildings and surrounding structures, in a perfect circle, it is believed that the community would sit there to watch, and dance with their elementary gods (wind, water, fire, Earth).

In the center of the main circular structure (its floors are an exact 52 year calendar) there is a large hole; possibly where the pole was placed, from which the priests held and rock back and forth, simulating the flight of a bird. Such tradition was an offering to Ehecatl

Ehecatl

.

The Teuchitlán Culture, as several other Mesoamerican cultures, had its own ball game. The game used a rubber ball that did not have to pass through rings, but it had to be struck with the hip to the opposite end of the court; when the ball was immobilized in one of the courts, the opposing team received points. The interesting thing about this game is the sum and subtraction, if a team had the kept at their side, they subtracted points and the opposing team added. Opposed to the general idea, the ballgame was used for political ends (territorial division, inheritance questions, etc.) or religious, where the winner won "gods immortality" in heaven, while being beheaded in the court.

Teuchitlán

Teuchitlán

(means "place dedicated to the divine") was dedicated gods worship. The [Teuchitlán] civilization always made sacrifices and offerings before any building construction.

Such offerings consisted of large fires or corn burned beneath the platform exterior walls. There have been cases of ceramics dishes found, within or below the walls.

Today, 1500 years after the abandonment of the area by its inhabitants, Guachimontones is being restructured and rediscovered. Many of archaeological areas are in poor conditions caused by agriculture of the owners of these lands. Today, it is world heritage, which does not indicate that the work is finished, but that is just starting.

The site has little to do with known Mexico archaeological sites, its architecture can only compare with some representations of the central highlands, as Cuicuilco

Cuicuilco

Cuicuilco is an important archaeological Mesoamerican Middle and Late Formative period site located on the southern shore of the Lake Texcoco in the southeastern Valley of Mexico. Today, it is a significant archaeological site that was occupied during the Early Formative until its destruction in...

; paradoxically also has amazing similitudes, as the ballgame court – among the largest of Mesoamerica - barely comparable with the magnitude of the Chichen Itza

Chichen Itza

Chichen Itza is a large pre-Columbian archaeological site built by the Maya civilization located in the northern center of the Yucatán Peninsula, in the Municipality of Tinúm, Yucatán state, present-day Mexico....

court (late classic Maya site in Yucatán); its irrigation system, compares with the Calakmul

Calakmul

Calakmul is a Maya archaeological site in the Mexican state of Campeche, deep in the jungles of the greater Petén Basin region. It is from the Guatemalan border. Calakmul was one of the largest and most powerful ancient cities ever uncovered in the Maya lowlands...

hydraulic engineering system, in Campeche, from the postclassical period.

Structures

It is a large-scale site, designed and built as a society element. The ambiance is considered “political” by archaeologists, structure complex designed to impose or maintain unity and order within the territory or to make adjustments on a large scale or long-term.

Sunken circular plazas surround each pyramid and a series of smaller mounds surround the plazas. On top of the mounds are platforms that once supported wooden buildings made of wood and clay.

The site has a total of 10 circular complexes, four rectangular plazas, two ballcourts.

The excavation of the site has been the focus of archaeologists from the Colegio de Michoacán under the direction of U.S. archaeologist Phil Weigand and his wife Celia Garcia de Weigand. A large project has been underway at the site since 1998.

The circular sets suggest a restricted access for the rulers, their families and the priestly caste. The western circular sets are unique, but its geometry widely follows cosmological principles understood and shared by the people of Mesoamerica.

In the architectural Teuchitlán microcosm, rulers observed a cyclic program of ritual festivals and society in general, lived under this ritual concept.

Weigan site definition of the circular mound complex is based on five diagnosed features:

A central pyramid.
An elevated circular patio surrounding the pyramid.
A circular sidewalk surrounding the patio.
Between eight and twelve rectangular platforms on the sidewalk.
Funerary crypts under some of the platforms.

Main Pyramid

The center of the largest venue is a pyramid with multiple layers and four staircases at the cardinal points. The small temple at the top was probably dedicated to a founding ancestor buried underneath. Around the circular floor of a sidewalk supports several platforms, each with a tree branches structure similar to a house; probably dedicated to ancestors or dominant lineages. To the right, a sacred spring provided water to the ritual gardens or similar purposes.

Construction materials for the main buildings was stone, clay and lime. In the center of the largest venue is a multiple layer pyramid and four staircases at the cardinal points.

Circle II

Known as the “Iguana”, is the second largest and best preserved. Has an impressive 115 m diameter and a perimeter of 360 m, surrounded by 10 platforms, three of them grouped together on a common base. Other smaller pyramids, had on top a pole for the ceremony of the "voladores", as can be seen in various local craftsmanship items.

Patio

Four sampling probes were excavated across the patio in order to study the construction technique and the element history. Probes were made in various sectors of the circle to determine thickness at different points. These probes were directed by Dr. Phil C. Weigand and professor Efraín Cárdenas; laboratory work was under the charge of professor Acelia García Anguiano and Eugenia Fernandez.

Ballgame Court

There is a ballgame courts, between the two larger circles in the site. A third, smaller circle interlaces with the second. The small pyramids had "volador” ceremony poles.

Possibly the Teuchitlán tradition ballgames hierarchy reflect political situations of particular sensitivity, which required solutions to social and economic problems in the court as well as on the battlefield.

The third smaller circle interlaces with the second. The small pyramids used to hold the “volador posts, are depicted in various cooked ceramic models. Smaller buildings are on the left and right, towards the foot of the hill. Farming areas are grouped around the distant lake shores, while swamps occupy the rest of the basin.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

UNESCO World Heritage List

Background

Discovery

Language

Cora Language

Teuchitlán Tradition

Societal structure

The last of the tradition

Ehécatl

The Site

Structures

Main Pyramid

Circle II

Patio

Ballgame Court

See also

External links