Guerrero's coast Part 2: The unique pyramid at ancient Xihuacán

A broad staircase ascends nine stepped-platforms of Pyramid A. This is the only one of Xihuacán's many pyramids yet excavated. One of my goals when we re-visited the Zihuatanejo area was to return to this ancient site. I wanted to see if we could gain access to the large pyramid that archaeologists had been unearthing on our previous visit. At that time, our guide Eduardo had told us the structure was off-limits. Tantalized by what I could glimpse from afar, I had to satisfy myself with a few telephoto shots. This time, to our delight, the pyramid was at least partially open to visitors. While we were restricted to an established walkway, we could see and photograph everything. The return visit to the site was well worth it because, as it turned out, the pyramid is highly unusual in several important respects. For a Google map of the area, click here.

Pyramid A is located in the center of the chart behind where the dotted lines converge. Except for the ball court--the long, narrow structure to the left and below Pyramid A--all the other structures above were still covered with earth and brush at the time we visited. The chart shows how this ceremonial center was consciously constructed to align with astronomical phenomena such as the March equinox and the December solstice. From the altar immediately in front of Pyramid A, the priest-rulers would take sightings of the position of the sun as it appeared over three different cerros (mountains). These sightings helped them prepare calendars showing the correct dates for planting and harvesting crops, especially maiz (corn). Keeping accurate calendars meant the ability to predict the future. This gave rulers great power over agricultural societies such as Xihuacán. The ceremonial structures seen above formed the center of a city that covered at least 8 hectares (19 acres). At its peak, as many as 15,000 people lived here. Today, there are only about 500 residents in nearby La Soledad de Maciel.

Pyramid A is still not completely excavated, as can be seen above. The front part of the stepped-pyramid has been revealed, but behind it rises a huge eroded mound that remains relatively untouched. The stairs are a modern addition and are part of the walkway created by archaeologists so visitors don't disturb the site. Pyramid A is quite large. At its base, it measures 100 m (328 ft) on each of its four sides. Its nine platforms rise to a height of 16 m (52.5 ft). Xihuacán and the area around it was almost continuously occupied for 3000 years, from 1500 BC to 1500 AD. Some archaeologists believe that the great length of its habitation may make it one of the most important sites ever discovered in Mexico. Artifacts found here show connections with the Olmecs of the Pre-Classic period, the Teotihuacans of Classic era,  and the Toltecs of the Post-Classic. Xihuacán remained an important power until the Aztecs under Emperor Ahuitzotl invaded the area in 1433 AD. By the early 1500s, Xihuacán had been reduced to a tributary province. Its power and glory were all but forgotten. This era of continuous habitation was broken only by a great tsunami which inundated the coastal area, resulting in a relatively brief period of abandonment. Some of the ceremonial site's ruins are still buried under tons of sand from that cataclysm.

The stepped platforms are unique in their construction. Unlike similar structures in any other part of Mesoamerica, their smooth outer surface is covered with terra-cotta (baked clay). In those ancient times, this would have been an extraordinarily difficult process. It required detailed knowledge of the behavior of clays and great skill in managing the temperatures created by open, wood-fired furnaces. To evenly bake the clay over such vast surface areas presented an immense challenge. Even so, the method was clearly effective. The platforms on this pyramid have maintained their hard, smooth surfaces for more than 1500 years. For an aerial view of Pyramid A, click here. At the bottom center of the aerial shot is Pyramid A. The circular wooded area just above Pyramid A is an un-excavated pyramid of even greater dimensions. Above the un-excavated pyramid, and slightly to the left, is the Ball Court which has been partly truncated by the road. It is second in size only to the great Ball Court of Chichen Itza.

View from the top platform of Pyramid A, looking west. To your right, where now corn fields and orchards grow, a great plaza once spread out, bordered by pyramids, palaces, and the ball court. The Pacific Ocean is only a few kilometers away to the west. Nearby ponds and canals once linked Xihuacán with the lagoon that runs behind the beach, and from there to the sea. This water route, and the access it allowed to the ocean, was beneficial for trade. Some of the most valuable trade items included conch shells, sea salt, cotton, and cacao. Artifacts indicate that Xihuacán's trade networks extended to central and southern Mexico, Guatemala and even to the Pacific Coast of South America. Another source of power and wealth came from the conquest of outlying towns and settlements. These then became sources of tribute. At its peak between 450 AD and 1100 AD, Xihuacán dominated a considerable stretch of Guerrero's Pacific Coast.

The Ojos de Dios (Eyes of God) are a series of holes on top of a large boulder. The boulder stands about 15 m (50 ft) from the western corner of Pyramid A. About one third of the rock has split off, probably due to natural causes. The boulder is at least 2 m (6.5 ft) tall, with a diameter of about twice that. I wasn't able to get close enough to count all the holes, but there are at least 25, with more out of view. The function of the Ojos de Dios is not clear. According to one theory, they were used for astronomical observations. Upon filling them with water, particular stars in the night sky would reflect in particular holes and thus aid calendric calculations. Another interpretation asserts that the act of filling the holes with water represented feeding the rock, thus encouraging the water god to send rain.

The top of Pyramid A 

The level top of the pyramid forms its own plaza containing smaller pyramids and altars. This is another very unusual aspect of Xihuacán. Carole and I have visited ancient sites throughout Mexico, and several in Guatemala. The only other place where we have encountered a huge pyramid with smaller pyramids on top is Toniná, an ancient Maya city in the highlands of Chiapas. The total area encompassed by the top, or ninth, platform is about 76 m x 76 m, (250 ft x 250 ft). In the foreground above, you can see the corner of a long rectangular pyramid. In the background at the top is another, this time square. In front of the square pyramid is a low altar, also square. In the left-center of the photo is a rectangular depression that was once part of a temescal (sweat lodge).

The central location of the altar indicates its importance. Sacrifices here may have included human offerings. In the right foreground is a circular pit that our guide described as a place for sacred fires. In the upper right you can see part of the square pyramid.

Another view of the altar and square pyramid includes a section of a water channel. Several of these ancient channels interlocked to direct rain water off the plaza. Xihuacán's builders lacked metal tools, draft animals, or the wheel, but nonetheless exhibited a sophisticated understanding of engineering principles. The water runoff was directed to pools which provided both a water supply for drinking and irrigation and a transportation link to the sea.

The foundations of a temescal stand near the rectangular pyramid. The entrance to the temescal extends out like the handle to a skillet. Temescales were used for religious purposes in ancient times, and still are by indigenous people in today's Mexico. The sweating process is intended to cleanse the participant. This may occur prior to a religious ceremony, or perhaps after an experience which may have left the person spiritually unclean. Use of a temescal was also considered medicinal and they were sometimes used by women during childbirth.

The narrow entrance to the temescal required participants to crouch low and crawl. Once all participants were assembled in the dark room, heated rocks from an outside fire--perhaps the sacred fire pit--would be brought in and sprinkled with water. Quickly, clouds of hot steam would fill the chamber.  Sometimes, the effects were hallucinogenic These experiences were considered sacred since they represented contact with spirit beings from other worlds.

The rectangular pyramid runs along the west side of Pyramid A. In the foreground you can see a section of the cobblestone paving that once covered the whole surface of the platform's plaza. Although archaeologists have aware of a pre-hispanic site in this area since at least 1925, little formal excavation occurred until the first decade of this century. For many years prior to that, local farmer's plows regularly turned up artifacts. Sensing an opportunity to bring tourist dollars to their very low-income community, some residents began to press the government to investigate. Finally, only a few years ago, the Mexican National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) began a major dig. According to Eduardo, a total of 16 pyramids have been identified to date. These include some built on nearby mountains after an ancient tsunami flooded the ceremonial center. Even taking into account the work displayed in both of my postings, the vast majority of Xihuacán is still untouched by archaeologists' trowels. Given the great length of time the site was occupied, and the important part Xihuacán played in pre-hispanic times, the future may hold some eye-popping discoveries.


Deciphering the stones

Glyph on a stele at the Museo de La Soledad de Maciel. The stele was recovered during the reconstruction of the Ball Court. However, that may not have been its original location. INAH has identified the glyph as the ancient place-name for Xihuacán. One interpretation of the word Xihuacán is "Place of the people who possess turquoise", a possible reference to Xihuacán's position as a center for trade. Another is "Place of the people who control eternity (or time)", referring to the city's association with astronomy and the ancient calendars. Recently I was contacted by Javier Urcid, Associate Professor of Archaeology at Brandeis University in Massachusetts. He had stumbled across my previous blog posting on Xihuacán and was interested in additional photos of the site's stone carvings, including the one above. I agreed to email him a number of shots that I had not included in that earlier posting. Since Carole and I were about to re-visit Zihuatanejo, I also volunteered to take additional photos that might be helpful in his research. Javier was delighted by my offer and I, in turn, was happy to collaborate with a professional archaeologist from such a distinguished university.

Javier's interpretation of the stele's glyph. One thing I have discovered about archaeologists is how often they disagree with one another. Although he is careful to note that he cannot claim to have the definitive answer, Javier believes that INAH's interpretation of the glyph is not accurate. He believes that his research shows a different and better substantiated meaning. He compared the Xihuacán glyph to similar glyphs found in ancient sites in Oaxaca and Yucatan, seen above on the left. The comparative glyph that INAH used is shown on the right. It is Javier's belief that Xihuacán's glyph means "Slide Knot", and refers to the 10th day of the ancient calendar. He notes that INAH's glyph contains four small circles with dots in them that surround the perimeter of the cartouch. Those circles appear on neither the Xihuacan glyph nor on those that Javier presents. Javier also believes INAH has displayed the stele upside down and that his drawing above shows its proper orientation.

Stele of "The King" is currently displayed in front of the church in La Soledad de Maciel. Javier fully agrees with INAH that this figure, known locally as La Chole, represents a ruler. La Chole wears an elaborate head dress and is portrayed with three faces. The middle one is a full frontal view. The other two are right and left profiles and may relate to the Mesoamerican concept of Duality. This is a very important part of pre-hispanic cosmology. Within the concept of Duality, everything is intimately and inextricably connected to its opposite, i.e. day-night, light-dark, life-death, male-female, evil-beneficial, etc. Any half of a duality cannot be understood without also taking into account, and accepting, its opposite.

Javier specializes in line drawings of ancient stone carvings. Above, he has drawn La Chole from the photos I sent him. Line drawings bring out details that are easily missed when viewing the original carving. Notice, for example, the ear rings, the pectoral (necklace), the bracelets, and the belt with its buckle. The legs are no longer attached to the original statue, but are displayed separately at the museum. Is this a representation of a real person, perhaps an important ruler in his time? Future excavations may reveal the answer.

Ring from the Ball Court. This, and another ring, would have been placed about half way along the length of the Ball Court, one on each side. One method of scoring was to pass the ball through the ring. The hole in the ring is only about 20 cm (8 in) across, so the hard rubber ball couldn't have been much bigger than a grapefruit. Although the Mesoamerican  ball game was played almost everywhere, from Honduras to Arizona, specific rules seem to have varied from one place to another. Under some rules, the ball could not be touched by hands or feet and could only be propelled by a hip, shoulder, or head. Protective leather armor was sometimes worn because the heavy ball could injure or even kill an unprotected player. In some locations, including Chichen Itzá, certain players might sacrificed after the game. There is some dispute among archaeologists over whether the sacrificed players were the losers or the winners. In some Mesoamerican societies, being chosen for sacrifice was considered a great honor. While archaeologists have found evidence that human sacrifice was associated with Xihuacán's ball game, it is not presently known whether this involved the players themselves.

The Ball Court ring displays two snakes, nose to nose. When I first photographed the rings, I didn't pay much attention to the swirls and squiggles on the surfaces. It was only later, after I had used my computer to enlarge and enhance the exposures, that I thought I saw evidence of snakes. It was a bit like looking for a hidden image in a puzzle. After I received Javier's drawings, I immediately saw what I had missed. The snakes are in profile, with their curling noses pressed together at the top. The right and left eyes of the two snakes are represented by the small oval spaces which, on the actual stone ring, are carved into the granite. The two mouths are open in toothy grins and the curling tails loop down on either side. These may be "fire serpents", associated with war and the planet Venus. The ball game symbolically expressed the duality of light and darkness and the on-going war between them. The ball game was played--in part--to defeat the darkness and ensure the rise of the life-giving sun. In this context, the presence of two opposing fire serpents makes sense. In addition, the ancient people also recognized Venus as both the Evening and Morning Star and thus also connected to the duality of darkness and light.

This large stone disk was found in the plaza in front of Pyramid A. It may have been the focal point for the ritual sun-sightings over the three surrounding cerros that established the arrival of an astronomical event such as a solstice or an equinox. The dimensions of the disk are approximately 1.8 m (5 ft) in diameter and .3 m (1 ft) thick. I don't know the weight, but it must be considerable. The top surface is covered with a low-relief carving of the rain god Tlaloc. The museum had no step ladder available for me to climb, and there was no other way to shoot a photo directly over it. In the end, I had to shoot photos of the surface by quadrants. Javier was particularly interested in the designs around the rim. He had asked me to photograph them with a continuous, overlapping series of shots so he could draw and analyze them. He hasn't completed his work on these images, but I hope to hear from him soon about his findings.

Tlaloc's fanged, goggle-eyed face was immediately recognizable of the upper quadrant.  Surrounding his head is a five-pointed star, representing Venus. Notice the round "goggle eyes".  Other significant features include circular ear rings, long fangs, and a forked tongue that droops from his open mouth. Carvings, sculpture, and pottery images of Tlaloc almost always include these elements.

Javier's drawing of the surface of the Tlaloc disk. Some of the other interesting features include a large target-like pectoral, a decorative loincloth, and two snakes that appear under his legs. I am not familiar with the objects he holds in each hand. Perhaps Javier will enlighten me.  Tlaloc is one of the two oldest gods in the Mesoamerican pantheon. The other is Huehueteotl, the "Old, Old God" of fire. Statues and carvings of both of these gods have been found at sites of some of the earliest pre-hispanic civilizations. They continued to be central to Mesoamerican cosmology right through the Spanish Conquest. When you consider the importance of fire and water to ancient civilizations, and to the archaic hunter-gatherers that preceded them, the great antiquity of these two gods makes sense.

Painting of Tlaloc at Teotihuacan, one of its many links with Xihuacán. The peak of Xihuacán's power and prosperity overlaps that of Teotihuacan. The ruins of that great city are located northeast of Mexico City, many hundreds of miles away from Guerrero's coast. However, Mesoamerican trade networks linked them commercially and culturally. Notice the similarity between the painting and the Tlaloc on the stone disk. The painting has the same five-pointed star representing Venus, goggle-eyes, round ear rings, drooping fangs and a forked tongue. Tlaloc had many aspects, but he was above all the god of rain, floods, thunder and lightning. True to the concept of Duality, he was considered both beneficial to the growth of crops, and destructive in his ability to send floods and lightening strikes. The Tlaloc disk's placement in the plaza connects astronomy, the calendar, the prediction of the seasonal rains, and the correct time to harvest the all-important main crop.

This completes Part 2 of my three-part series on the Guerrero Coast. I hope you enjoyed it and can visit this remarkable site in the future. If you'd like to leave a comment, please do so in the Comments section below or email me directly.

If you leave a question in the Comments section, PLEASE include your address so I can respond.

Hasta luego, Jim

Zihuatanejo: Part 7: Daily life along the ancient Costa Grande

This beautiful bracelet of copper bells was crafted by the ancient people of the Costa Grande. Copper bells and other items of personal ornamentation were among the earliest uses of this metal. Evidence of the use of copper first appears around 600 AD along the southwestern Pacific Coast of Mexico. The Costa Grande (Great Coast) is one of seven regions of the State of Guerrero. It extends along the Pacific Coast roughly from the border of Michoacan on the northwest (not far from Zihuatanejo) to Acapulo on the southeast. This area doesn't just include the coastline, but extends a considerable distance inland. It thus includes the sealife resources of the beaches and coves, the fertile agricultural plains separating the beaches from the mountains, and the mountains themselves which contained wildlife, forest products, and gold, silver and copper ore for metallurgy. Given the warm climate and regular rainfall, this was a congenial place for ancient people to settle. Gradually they developed communities which were eventually consolidated into theocratic states like Xihuacán (see Parts 5 & 6 of this series). The wide variety of products the land could produce also led to trade with distant areas of ancient Mesoamerica and, ultimately, to conquest by powerful and covetous civilizations such as the Tarascans and the Mexica (Aztecs). (Photo taken at the Archaeological Museum in Zihuatanejo)


Life of the common people

Early village life was simple and communal and revolved around maiz cultivation and fishing. The earliest people arrived about 10,000 years ago and were hunter/gatherer nomads who camped in caves along the seashore. When maiz (corn) cultivation reached the Costa Grande around 1500 BC, people began to settle in one place and to build simple homes as seen above. Between 800 BC and 100 BC, villages flourished throughout the area. The huts were constructed using the wattle and daub technique and had thatched roofs. They were set upon low platforms which, in turn, rested upon a broad platform made of stone and earth. The platforms ensured that the village and its homes were above any swampy ground. There was very little social class division and work was communal. However, there was some division of labor between men and women and perhaps between families. The men cultivated and harvested the maiz in fields adjacent to the village. The women prepared the harvested grain in a multi-step process that included grinding it into a flour on stone metates. Small, flat, round cakes now known as tortillas were cooked from the flour and formed a staple of the family diet. Since the village above is set close to the seashore, another ready source of food would have been mollusks from tide pools, seabirds and their eggs, and fish caught with nets made of local fibers and weighted with small stones. After the discovery that cotton fiber was useful for making cloth, animal skin clothing was largely abandoned, except for ceremonial purposes. Clothing was simple, composed mostly of skirts and loin cloths, since more elaborate clothing would have been unnecessary in this climate.  (Photo of mural taken at the Museum of Archaeology in Zihuatanejo)


Tools for subsistence 

Tools like this were used for grinding food or medicinal herbs or making pigments for paints. The circular stone bowl is called a metate and the cylindrical stone in the bowl is a mano. This metate is unusual because they are usually shaped as rectangular trays. Although this form of grinding is extremely ancient, manos and metates can still be found for sale in modern Mexican hardware stores. They are not tourist nicknacks, but practical tools for the kitchen. The fertile soil that produced the maiz once ground in this metate was watered by rivers and canals in fields that were capable of producing two harvests per year. In addition to maiz, local farmers grew beans, squash, and chile. Nutritionists have established that these four foods form an almost perfectly balanced diet. With the addition of protein from seafood, birds, and other wildlife, the local population must have been well nourished. (Photo taken at the Archaeological Museum in Soledad de Maciel)

Stone weights of various sizes were used to stabilize nets and cause them to sink evenly. The nets themselves would have been made from fibers stripped from local plants such as the maguey. The fibers were woven into strings and then knotted into nets. The stones were grooved around their circumferences so that they wouldn't slip off the net. The nets used by modern Mexican fishermen along the Costa Grande shore (see Parts 2 & 3 of this series) are still designed and used in much the same fashion as their ancient ancestors, although the weights are now made of lead and the nets woven from nylon.(Photo taken at the Archaeological Museum in Soledad de Maciel)

Obsidian arrow points intended for various sizes of game from small birds to mountain lions.
While not as easy to obtain as steel arrow points purchased at a sporting goods store, obsidian points such as these are surprisingly easy to make, if one has the materials at hand. Basically, you need a chunk of obsidian, a stone tool to chip off an arrowhead "blank"from the larger chunk, a small patch of deer hide to protect your fingers while you do the fine work on the blank, and the pointed end of a deer antler to do the shaping and finishing. All of these materials, except for obsidian, could be locally obtained. The obsidian had to be imported through the trade networks from the area of modern Michoacan and Hidalgo states. Since the great commercial and trading empire of Teotihuacan controlled huge deposits of obsidian in those areas, and there is much evidence of Teotihuacan influence on the Costa Grande people, it may be that material these arrowheads were made from originated there. The basic technique for making arrowheads would have been common knowledge among ancient people as far back as the 8,000 BC or even earlier. Small children would have learned by observation as they watched their fathers or older brothers working around the fire in the evening, preparing for the next day's hunt. In later times, after the development of a stratified, specialized society in Xihuacán, obsidian workshops produced many of these kinds of items. For a Living History Youtube video showing the traditional method of makeing obsidian arrowheads, click here.  (Photo taken at the Archaeological Museum in Soledad de Maciel)

Tools for making other important products

This stone hammer was used to make paper from amate bark. Use of amate bark for paper may have begun as early as 300 AD in Mesoamerica, probably originating with the Maya before migrating north. The bark was stripped from the tree and left overnight to soak in water. Then, the fine inner fibers were removed and pounded into flat sheets using a mallet like the one above. The cross-hatched grooves in the mallet were important for mashing the fibers. To make any significant amount of the paper was a laborious process. However it was also relatively light and therefore easy to transport. Both of these factors made amate paper very valuable. The Mexica (Aztecs) made the most extensive use of amate paper and assigned its manufacture as a tribute requirement to 40 villages in their empire. The villagers were required to produce 480,000 sheets annually. The paper was not considered a commodity, but was used by royal scribes to keep records, by priests for ritual purposes, and as royal gifts to nobles and successful warriors. Because indigenous priests used amate paper for their rituals, and the Spanish suspected that the writings involved devil worship, colonial authorities banned the production and use of the paper. They also burned the great libraries containing amate paper codicies. These contained centuries of the religious thought and political history of the conquered civilizations. This conflagration was one of history's most infamous acts of cultural genocide. Indigenous people in a handful of areas secretly preserved the paper-making technology, however. Today, a few villages of Otomi and Nahua people of Puebla and Vera Cruz still make amate paper in the ancient way.  (Photo taken at the Archaeological Museum in Soledad de Maciel)

Tools used in lapidary work. Lapidary items are those made of stone that is considered precious. In Mesoamerica, such stones included green jade, serpentine, obsidian, and turquoise. Many of these precious stones would have traveled long distances along the ancient trade routes to the Costa Grande. Turquoise, for example, originated in the what is today Arizona and New Mexico in the Southwestern US. The distance from there to the Costa Grande is approximately 4000 km (2500 mi). It should be remembered that there were no pack animals in Mesoamerica prior to the arrival of the Spanish, so everything had to be carried on a human back.   (Photo taken at the Archaeological Museum in Soledad de Maciel)

Ancient zoomorphic paint pots. I was rather charmed by these little paint pots. I enjoy how the ancient people often decorated even workaday tools like this with animal figures and faces. The two pot sets at the top obviously were intended to separate various colors. The artist may well have once used them to paint ritual images on amate paper. The pigments used were made from the natural materials they found in their immediate environment. For example, the color white, called tízatl, was obtained by slaking lime with water and sand. Black (Tlilli) came from resin-filled pine sticks burned at the tips. This created charcoal sticks for drawing, but the charcoal could also be ground up for black paint. Graphite was also used to create black. Red could be obtained by using red ocher, or cinnabar. One of the most mysterious colors used was the famous Maya Blue. Its use spread from the Maya areas through the trade networks to many of the other Mesoamerican civilizations. The durability and longevity of Maya Blue is astonishing. According to World Archaeology, it is "resistant to acid, solvent, heat and many forms of organic corrosion. Samples found on pottery and murals show little evidence of colour deterioration after centuries of exposure..." Until 2008, the mystery of its ingredients went unsolved. Then an archaeologists remembered a paint pot that had been recovered from the Cenote Sagrado (water-filled, limestone sinkhole) at Chichen Itzá. The pot still contained some Maya Blue that, when given an electron analysis, revealed "a mix of copal (tree resin burned as incense), a clay mineral called palygorskite, and small amounts of indigo leaves." Thus was solved a 150-year-old mystery. (Photo taken at the Archaeological Museum in Soledad de Maciel)

Malacates were used in the process for spinning thread for textiles.  The point of a long wooden rod fitted through the hole in the center of the clay spindle whorl known as a malacate, with the flat side up. The point of the rod rested on a piece of wood or in a bowl while the other end was held in the fingers of the spinner. One end of the thread was attached to the middle of the rod, while the other end merged with the mass of cotton or ixtle fiber held in the lap of the person doing the spinning. The function of the malacate was to stabilize the rod in a vertical position and maintain inertia while it was twirled.As you can see above, the ancients decorated their humble little malacates, like they did the paint pots seen previously.  (Photo taken at the Archaeological Museum in Soledad de Maciel)

The use of molds shows that the ancient people understood some aspects of mass production. As the Costa Grande societies grew more complex, so did their technologies. Instead of crafting unique objects by hand, molds were sometimes used to make many identical objects. The craftsmanship thus declined, with quantity winning out over quality. The development of this technology was related to the development of a multi-level, hierarchical society. Complex religions demanded offerings by large numbers of people in the rapidly growing society. The clay objects manufactured with these molds could be produced on a mass scale. In addition, mass production could reduce trade costs and thus increase the wealth of those who controlled commerce. The priestly elites began to assign specialized tasks to individual family groups. These tasks might involve the manufacture of ritual objects, luxury items, or items for trade. Economics, politics, and religion functioned together to maintain elite control of the society, just as they do in modern societies. (Photo taken at the Archaeological Museum in Soledad de Maciel)

Metallurgy on the Costa Grande

The first use of copper axes was for ceremonial rather than utilitarian purposes. Copper objects in the earliest times would have been fairly soft and more traditional substances such as stone or obsidian would have served better a cutting tools. Copper was at first reserved for personal decoration of the elites and and for ceremonial/ritual purposes. However, as time went by the ancient metallurgists experimented with various alloys including copper-arsenic, copper-silver, and copper-tin to produce harder and more usable tools. By the beginning of the Spanish Conquest in 1519 , copper tools and weapons were widely used in Western Mexico, especially by the Tarascan Empire. Through the trade networks, copper tools were also beginning to show up in other parts of Mesoamerica. The Tarascans were the great rivals of the Mexica (Aztec) Empire. The ability of the Tarascans to defeat every Mexica attempt to conquer them has been attributed in part to the abundance of copper alloy weapons the Tarascans possessed. The Mexica still equipped their armies almost entirely with obsidian edged weapons.  (Photo taken at the Archaeological Museum in Soledad de Maciel)

These copper bracelet and anklet bells were found at Xihuacán. Copper bells were prized for their bright shiny appearance and their musical tinkling. These were probably worn during rituals in Xihuacán's ceremonial center. Objects like these were typically cast using with the lost-wax method.  Archaeologists believe that copper objects, and the technology for creating them, first arrived to the Pacific Coast of Mexico from South America between 600-650 AD. Seaborne trade networks led from Peru to Central America and up the Pacific Coast. Considerable evidence has been amassed of South American influence on Western Mexico from well before the arrival of copper technology. This includes pottery styles, and the burial practices of the Shaft Tomb Culture of Jalisco, Nayarit, and Colima States. (Photo taken at the Archaeological Museum in Soledad de Maciel)

Ritual figures cast from copper were also found at Xihuacán's ceremonial center. The people of the Costa Grande soon saw the value to mining, smelting, and crafting their own copper objects, rather than just acquiring them through the trade networks. They saw the manufacture of copper and other metal objects as so important that two Xihuacán groups got their names from their specialization in metallurgy: the Tepuztecas (People of Copper) and the Cuitlatecas (Guardians of the Metal).  (Photo taken at the Archaeological Museum in Soledad de Maciel)

Trade and commerce

A trader negotiates for conch and other shells on the Costa Grande shore. Even as early as 1500 BC, when agriculture was just getting under way along the Costa Grande, the area was already part of a vast network of trade routes. These ran from the areas controlled by the Hohokam Culture of the Southwest US down into the Valley of Mexico--then dominated by the Tlatilco Culture--and on into the Maya areas of Central America. Moving from east to west, the routes connected the Olmecs of the Gulf Coast with the people of Xihuacán on the Costa Grande. Then there were the seaborne routes down the Pacific Coast to Central America and into Peru and Ecuador. Europeans who arrived in the 16th Century and later tended to view the indigenous people as uncultured savages. In fact, the ancients had, for thousands of years, maintained sophisticated and amazingly far-reaching commercial and trade relationships. Wars were sometimes fought to obtain key sources of trade goods such as jade, obsidian, or salt, or to protect the trade routes themselves. In the long historical view, there is no essential difference between the late 15th Century Salitre War between the Tarascan Empire and the Kingdom of Colima over control of the salt trade, and the current wars between drug cartels for control of drug smuggling routes from Southern Mexico to the United States. The more things change, the more they stay the same.   (Photo of mural taken at the Museum of Archaeology in Zihuatanejo)

Some key trade goods produced by the Costa Grande ancients included shells, cotton, and salt. As it happened, the Costa Grande occupied a strategic trade location. It possessed great quantities of shells, useful for personal decoration as well as musical instruments and cutting devices. Cotton, highly valued by the great civilizations of Central Mexico when spun into cloth, could only be grown in hot lowland areas such as the Costa Grande plains. The Costa Grande provided access to great quantities of sea salt. Before the development of refrigeration in the late 19th Century, salt was the only way to preserve fish, meats, or other important foods, other than drying them. It was also essential to preserving animal hides for eventual manufacture into various valuable goods. The mountains that rise steeply behind the coastal plain are full of copper, gold, and the piedra verde (green stone) so highly valued by pre-hispanic people. When mined and turned into small, light, easily carried products such as tools and jewelry, these items also became valuable for trade. As noted previously, trade routes up and down the Pacific Coast intersected with the east-west routes to the Central Valley and Gulf Coast. So, the area's geographic location was also important to its strategic role in trade.  (Photo taken at the Archaeological Museum in Soledad de Maciel)

Cacao beans were valuable in themselves, but sometimes served as a medium of exchange. Cacao beans are used to make chocolate, and as many modern chocoholics would agree with the ancients that it is the "food of the gods." The Mesoamerican elites considered it so important that they restricted its use to themselves. The chocolate made from the cacao was taken as a hot beverage, spiced by various condiments including chile and, upon occasion, the blood of a sacrificed warrior. Money, as we  understand it, did not exisit during pre-hispanic times. Gold and silver were used for jewelry and ornamentation, but there was no metal currency. Cacao came closest to currency as a medium of exchange. A certain number of cacao beans were understood to be worth a deer hide, or a quantity of cotton cloth, or perhaps could be exchanged for a personal service. Since they were light, compact, and carried high intrinsic value, cacao beans joined cotton, salt, piedra verde, sea shells and copper items as trade goods exported from the Costa Grande.  (Photo taken at the Archaeological Museum in Soledad de Maciel)

Raw cotton, and some of the woven cloth made from it. Cotton was domesticated independently in the Old and New Worlds. In Mesoamerica, the oldest domesticated seeds and bolls yet found were in the Tehuacan Valley in Puebla State. While they were dated between 3400 and 2300 BC, genetic tests of these remains indicate that the earliest Mesoamerican cotton may have been cultivated in Yucatan, In South America, cotton was domesticated even earlier. On the Peruvian Coast in 4200 BC, people began cultivating an entirely different species of cotton. Some archaeologists have speculated that it may have reached Mesoamerica from there, possibly by the same route copper got there, although the cotton would have arrived far earlier. This theory is not widely held, however, and most archaeologists believe domestication occurred separately in Peru and Mesoamerica. It is entertaining to think that at a time when people in the British Isles and Northern Europe were still dressing in animal skins, people in Mesoamerica and Peru were weaving their garments from cotton thread. Savages indeed!  (Photo taken at the Archaeological Museum in Soledad de Maciel)

Conch and other shells were major items of trade.  Conches carried great value. One of their first uses was for jewelry. They were cut in pieces to make necklaces, finger and ear rings, pectorals and bracelets. However, their use as a trumpet was quickly adopted, and conch instruments were incorporated into ceremonies and processions. In addition, painted murals show military commanders using them to signal their troops. Conches have often been found among grave goods. Many of the conches used in rituals were painted and incised with anthropomorphic or zoomorphic designs. Their value as trade goods is indicated by how far they have been found from from their seashore places of origin. In the Quetzalpapalotl Palace at Teotihuacan, I photographed a mural of two jaguars lustily blowing conch trumpets under symbols of Tlaloc, the rain god. The Conquistadors under Hernán Cortéz reported that conch trumpets were blown during human sacrifices atop the Templo Mayor in Tenochtitlán.  That pyramid was dedicated both to Tlaloc, and to Huitzilopochitli, the war god. To the Spanish, it must have been chilling to hear the long, deep, mournful conch blast as they watched their captured comrades sacrificed on the altar. (Photo taken at the Museum of Archaeology in Zihuatanejo)

This completes Part 7, and also my series on Zihuatanejo and the Costa Grande. If you have enjoyed it, perhaps you'd like to leave a comment in the Comments section or email me directly. I always appreciate feedback, and corrections are also welcome.

If you leave a question in the Comments section, PLEASE leave your email address so I can respond.

Hasta luego, Jim

Zihuatanejo Part 6: Ancient Xihuacán as a Ceremonial Center

Statue of Huehueteotl, the "Old, Old Fire God," was found at Xihuacán. Huehueteotl is shown in his typical posture: seated, with the hunched shoulders and face of an old man, and carrying a brazier (fire tray) on his head. Xihuacán is an important ancient site currently under archaeological excavation. It is located about 40 minutes south of Zihuatanejo (see Part 5 of this series). In the whole Costa Grande section of the modern State of Guerrero, Xihuacán was the most important ceremonial center. Archaeologists have unearthed evidence that the pre-hispanic people living in this area worshiped many of the gods revered in the rest of Mesoamerica. This is probably due to Xihuacán's role as a trade and cultural crossroads. Huehueteotl was well-named because he is one of the most ancient of Mesoamerica's well-populated pantheon, dating back at least to the Olmec period (1500 BC-400 BC). Control over fire was, of course, one of the earliest and most important of man's great technological developments, long pre-dating the arrival of humans to the Western Hemisphere. Fire provided warmth for the body, heat for cooking and preserving food, a way to illuminate the night, protection against predators, a way to signal others over long distances, and it could be used to manufacture tools and other products. Those were just the practical uses. Fire also came to play a central role in the many rituals and religious ceremonies of ancient times. It should be no surprise that ancient man would sanctify this critical force of nature at a very early date. In fact, along with water, earth, and wind, pre-hispanics considered fire to be one of the four primary and sacred elements of the universe. In February 2013, archeologists at Teotihuacan near Mexico City announced that they had unearthed a statue of Huehueteotl among the remains of a temple at the top of the famous Pyramid of the Sun, indicating that the great pyramid may have once been dedicated to his worship.

Religion, astronomy, mathematics, the study of time, agriculture, and political power were all closely related. Xihuacán priest-astronomers set up observatories atop three hills overlooking the ceremonial center of the city. As seen above, lines drawn from the top of each hill intersect at an altar immediately in front of the main pyramid. When the sun rises exactly over the top of the left-hand hill--Cerro La Agua (Water Mountain)--it marks the Spring Equinox. When it appears over Cerro del Tigre (Tiger Mountain) on the far right, the Winter Solstice has arrived. When it comes up over Cerro La Mira (Lookout Mountain), it has reached the axis between the other two. Armed with this knowledge, the priestly elite could predict when crops should be planted or harvested, as well as predicting other astronomical phenomena. Such knowledge resulted in great political power and enabled them to command the obedience of the populace. It was only through such obedience that Xihuacán's elites could mobilize the workforce to build the pyramids, temples and palaces that surround the plaza where the altar stands. Given that pre-hispanic people had no draft animals, no wheeled vehicles, and lacked metal tools until fairly late in the Post-Classic period, it was only through such mass mobilizations that these structures could be completed.

A clay sculpture of Tlaloc, the god of rain, shows he could use a good orthodontist. The sculpture, along with the body shown in the next photo, was found within the site of Xihuacán. Tlaloc was another of the most ancient Mesoamerican gods, and his worship paralleled the development of agricultural societies. These began during the Archaic Period (8,000 BC-2000 BC). As farmers began to understand the importance of rain and the disastrous consequences of its lack, they created a deity to whom they could appeal. In the typical duality of Mesoamerican religion, Tlaloc represented beneficial forces such as dependable and abundant rain, but also fearsome forces such as lightning and destructive hailstorms that could damage crops. He was thus a god that must be handled with great respect and care.

Tlaloc's body, from which the head had broken off. Notice the necklace with dangling jewels, which, in real life, might have been jade or shells. The figure wears an ankle-length garment on which are incised various designs. Tlaloc was one of the four sons of Ometeotl, the original god whose dual nature included both male and female aspects. The rain god was at first married to Xochiquetzal (flower bird), the goddess of youth, beauty, and sexuality. However, she was stolen away by one of his brothers, the devious Tezcatlipoca. Subsequently, Tlaloc married Chalchiuhtlicue who was the patroness of rivers and springs, a good match for his command over rain. Since providing regular seasonal rain was a big job, Tlaloc had four helpers called the Tlaloque. These were seen both as aspects of Tlaloc and as separate deities in their own right (if this sounds confusing, remember the Christian Trinity). The Tlaloque made rain by brewing it up in great clay vats in the mountains. Thunder and lightning occurred when they cracked the vats to release the rain. 

Our guide Eric explains the great stone disk discovered in the center of the ceremonial plaza. The disk played a role in the worship of Tlaltecuhtli, the earth goddess. Thus, representations of three of the four gods relating to the four sacred elements have been found at Xihuacán. The only one lacking is Ehecatl, the god of wind. However, major excavations were only begun in 2007, so he may yet turn up. The heavy stone is carved on its flat surface and also around its circumference. Its location in the center of the ceremonial area next to great ceremonial fire pits, and the carvings linking it to the priesthood, show that this was a very important artifact in ancient rituals. Tlaltecuhtli was believed to have originally been a great monster, and her name means "the one who gives and devours life." According to the Aztec version of her story, the gods Quetzalcoatl (the Plumed Serpent) and Tezcatlipoca (stealer of Tlaloc's wife) were attempting to create the very first of five versions of the world. The great monster Tlaltechuhtli repeatedly destroyed their work until they turned themselves into giant snakes, wrapped themselves around her legs, and broke her in two. The goddess' body became the earth, her hair the trees and flowers, and her eyes the caves and wells. She thus became the earth goddess with the power of creating whatever humans need. However, she also devoured the sun every evening and gave birth to it every morning, a cycle so important that human sacrifice was thought necessary to keep it going. 

This diagram of the Tlaltecuhtli disk expresses multiple religious concepts. The head of Tlaltecuhtli can be seen at the top, with goggle eyes and a long tongue draping from her mouth, giving her an appearance similar to Tlaloc. Surrounding her head are five points representing the star Venus, also closely related to Tlaloc. This similarity at first seemed to contradict the sign identifying the deity on the disk as Tlaltecuhtli. However, Eric insisted the sign was right and my further investigations proved him correct. The earth goddess has her arms raised and she sits in a squatting position that imitates the way many indigenous women give birth. Below the Venus symbol, in the center of the disk, are a series of concentric circles representing the sun. The placement of Venus above the sun represents an astronomical alignment that occurs every 8 years, no doubt triggering a major ceremony involving the stone disk. Venus was widely considered the symbol of death and rebirth, because of the cyclical nature in which the star appears. It was also believed that one of Venus' roles was to show the sun the proper way to move through its own cycle, much as the priest-astronomers showed the people the proper cycle of planting. Consequently, Venus was the special symbol of the priesthood and the stone disk reinforces the rulership of the priestly elites. Also, notice the snakes at the bottom of the disk near her feet, representing Quezalcoatl and Tezcalipoca, preparing to tear the great monster in two.

Small figures of Xihuacán priests provide a sense of how they appeared. Priestly elites emerged as the pre-hispanic societies became more specialized and stratified. Originally, they were simple farmers who, through close observation of the stars and natural physical cycles, developed an ability to predict important phenomena. Other members of the community turned to them for advice on when to plant crops, when the rains could be expected and other vital concerns. In the earliest times, these people were respected as shamans but possessed few advantages in economic or political status over the rest of the community. However, over the millennia, the people playing these roles accumulated vast and specialized knowledge from direct observation, from information passed down by their predecessors, and through trade relations and other contacts with outside cultures. Since knowledge was power, it was closely held and often cloaked in mysterious rituals. One of these rituals at Xihuacán involved the Ojos de dios (Eyes of God). These were shallow holes carved in the tops of boulders found on the summits of hills surrounding the growing settlement. Water was poured into the holes in order to refresh the gods and so encourage them to produce rain. Not coincidentally, the water-filled holes acted as mirrors in which astronomical phenomena could be isolated and observed. Information culled from these observations could be presented to the community as messages from the now-refreshed gods as to the likely timing of the rains.

This lidded stone jar was used in the rain ceremonies. The jar was found on a hill called the Cerro los Brujos (Hill of Witches). It was filled with small objects called chalchihuites, representing rain drops. It would be difficult to overstate the importance of these rituals, and of rain gods like Tlaloc. Failure of the rains to arrive at the proper time meant the failure of the crops. A long-term drought could lead to starvation and social collapse. The entire social structure was based on the belief that the intercession of the priestly elites was necessary to persuade the gods to do the right thing by their human worshipers. There are good arguments that the collapse of the great Teotihuacan Empire of Central Mexico in approximately 600 AD, and that of the Classic Era Maya city-states between 800-900 AD, were due to prolonged droughts. The lack of rain may have led to massive social unrest and the overthrow of the elites who had proved unable to assuage the anger of Tlaloc (or Chaac in the case of the Maya).

The green stone from which this priest figure was carved was associated with rain. The priest wears a necklace and earrings of circular disks which, in real life, would probably have been made from jade--another green stone. The priest wears a headdress decorated with a bird on the front, probably an eagle. In Mesoamerican societies, eagles were associated with power, war, and the sun. Over time, status and wealth flowed to shamans who possessed specialized knowledge of astronomy, mathematics, calendrical cycles, and how all these could be used to regulate the agricultural base of the economy. Shamans developed into priests, and priests into rulers. The pantheon of gods expanded, each having his or her own complex attributes and areas of influence. The rituals aimed at pleasing the various deities became elaborate ceremonies involving sacrifices, often of the human kind. The ability to compel such sacrifices arose parallel with the ability to compel the labor necessary to build pyramids, temples, and other great edifices where the ceremonies and sacrifices could be conducted.

Ceremonial sacrifice blades found at Xihuacán's ceremonial area. The one on the right appears to be made of obsidian, a volcanic glass that was very valuable to ancient people because of its capacity to produce an edge with a sharpness exceeding that of modern surgical instruments. Teotihuacan's early rise to power was due, in part, to its control over great deposits of obsidian. This was equivalent to a modern nation's possession of large oil deposits. Teotihuacan's skilled artisans created many valuable objects from the obsidian, which were then traded widely in Mesoamerica, and some of them no doubt ended up in Xihuacán. The other blades are probably chert or flint, two popular materials for creating sharp-edged tools and weapons. Since human sacrifice was one of the primary methods of propitiating Tlaloc, Huehueteotl, Tlaltecuhtli and many of the other gods, these blades no doubt saw much hard service, particularly in dry times.

Anatomically correct phallae were used in rituals associated with power and fertility. Phallic cults developed in some Mesoamerican areas during times of turmoil and social disruption. They appear to have been a way for the priestly elites to reaffirm their authority. Their symbolic importance was also related to rain and agricultural fertility. Semen and blood were bodily fluids considered very important to the gods. Sometimes the rituals brought all this together. One common practice was self-sacrifice through the piercing of sensitive body parts, including the penis. This was done with various sharp instruments, including manta ray spines, which would have been readily available in the Costa Grande area. The resulting excruciating pain was thought helpful in bringing about a trance-like state in which the spirit world could be contacted in the form of visions. To my male readers: it is not recommended that you try this at home.

Archaeologists at Xihuacán have found many objects related to both female fertility and water. The objects in the lower left and upper right represent pregnant female figures, reclining on their backs. In ancient Mesoamerica, there was a very close symbolic association between females and water. Figures like these have often been found in caves (the source of springs) and wells. You will remember that these water sources were supposedly created from the earth goddess Tlaltechuhtli's eyes after she was torn apart by Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca when they formed the earth with parts of her body. Tlaltechuhtli was herself the ultimate female fertility symbol, since planting seeds in the earth produced the crops. Caves were also closely associated with the female vagina and with both death and rebirth. Additionally, Tlaloc's second wife Chalchiuhtlicue was the patroness of springs and land-based water sources. Another of the interesting objects shown above is what appears to be a small clay temple adorned with circular chalchihuites. These may represent rain drops similar to those found in the stone jar seen previously. 

A chubby little Xoloitzcuintli looks like he's about to wag is tail. The Xoloitzcuintli (show-low-is-queen-tlee) is a small hairless dog native to the New World. They were raised in many pre-hispanic communities as hunters, guardians, draft animals, companions and as a food source. Statues of the little dogs, in a wide variety of postures, have often been found in the burials of Western Mexico's Shaft Tomb Culture. This one must have arrived in Xihuacán through the trade networks. The Shaft Tomb culture was active between about 250 BC-400 AD, and is known primarily through the contents of its unusual tombs, which were built at the bottom of deep vertical shafts. Xoloitzcuintli have often been found in tombs of the Colima area, and have become commonly known as Colima Dogs. The statues represent Xolotl, a dog-like deity who was Quetzalcoatl's twin. Xolotl was closely associated with Venus and thus the cycle of death and rebirth. His main job was to guide the soul past the many terrors and obstacles of the underworld until it reached Mictlán, the ninth and lowest level. The families of the deceased made sure that the tomb contained and least one, and sometimes many Xoloitzcuintli to ensure there were no slip-ups in the journey.

This completes Part 6 of my series on Zihuatanejo. I hope you have enjoyed meeting a few of the most important deities of ancient Xihuacán and learning about this great Costa Grande ceremonial center. I always encourage feedback and questions, so if you would like to leave a comment, please do so in the Comments section below, or email me directly.

If you leave a question in the Comments section, PLEASE leave your email address so I can respond.

Hasta luego, Jim