Chalcatzingo

Chalcatzingo is in the state of Morelos and is the most ancient site that I have visited. Its apogee was during 700bce to 500bce and had a population between 500-1000 people. It was well positioned at a trade-route crossroads between Guerrero and the Basin of Mexico, Oaxaca and the Gulf lowlands. It does contain some civic-ceremonial architecture and iconography. The largest platform (or mound) contained burials found with jade ornaments. It is a beautiful site, surrounded by a few mountains and fertile plains. There was also a water source so its location was ideal for these ancient peoples. Chalcatzingo is famous for its stone carvings which were carved right into the mountain-side and cliffs. I was really excited to be able to finally go to Chalcatzingo and witness first-hand these amazing carvings and to see this very ancient site.

This is arguably the most famous rock art found at Chalcatzingo. Rock art is an important tradition of Mesoamerican cultures and was initiated during the Early Olmec Period (1200bce to 800bce). Known as "El Rey" or "The King", this iconography depicts a ruler of somekind (some have argued that the person is actually a female) that sits in a cave, another ancient Mesoamerican tradition; caves are symbols for entry and exit of the underworld and very important 'natural' openings to the underworld. Surrounding the central personage are symbols of fertility, rain, wind, scroll volutes, and three rain clouds (pictured below) that release the raindrops so necessary for the cultivation and consumption of maize (and squash and beans, the three main staples of the Mesoamerican diet-even to this day). These kind of petroglyphs, a design that has been pecked into the rock, are much more common than are pictographs or painted designs in Mesoamerica. I also included an image of a jaguar stomping on a human figure; again, this symbolizes the connection between sacrifice and fertility and the importance of the jaguar as a powerful and even mystical creature.

Chalcatzingo's setting is quite beautiful, considering that it is set between two mountains. This rather large tree (that my friend Javier is standing next to) interested me because it appeared to be supporting the entire mountain. I had to include another carving of a jaguar; obviously, the jaguar is very important to many Mesoamerican cultures and its veneration reaches far back in time for this area of the world. I also took a picture of one of the two sculpted mounds in the main plaza. I'm not sure what that last sculpture is; I think it could have been used for sacrifice but I'm not sure and we didn't have a guide to explain some of these things to us.

And here are some more images of Chalcatzingo and the surrounding area. I had to include the picture of this brightly-colored lizard creature. All of the lizards here at Chalcatzingo were extremely fast and kind of big; it reminded me of Charly, my friend Vicki's 4ft. iguana, but I still have some irrational fear of these reptiles. I also included a picture of the ball court and one of the 'monticulos' or mounds although it does look like a miniature pyramid. I got sunburned here because the sun is very strong and as you can observe, Chalcatzingo is surrounded by these open fertile plains. But I enjoyed coming to this ancient site (the most ancient that I have visited so far!).

Cuernavaca, Morelos

So my friend Javier invited me to go to his family's vacation home in Cuauhtla, in the state of Morelos. We used that weekend to explore a few places in Morelos, like the largest city in Morelos, the capital Cuernavaca. Known as Cuauhnahuac ("Place nears trees") before the Spaniards arrived, this region of Mexico, like so many others, had many different groups of indigenous peoples and much history that preceded the Spanish Invasion in the 16th century. Cuernavaca is also known as the "City of Eternal Spring" given its lovely year-round average temperature of 72degrees. It is famous for its art, history and Spanish language schools. Emperor Charles V gave Cuernavaca to Hernando Cortes and the Spaniards introduced sugar-cane cultivation to the area. Emperor Maxmilian resided in what is known today as the Jardin Borda, but I didn't really take any pictures there (it was mostly trees). The last picture is of the great Hacienda de Cortes which belonged to Martin, the son of Cortes and which has been converted into a museum. The people in Cuernavaca are very friendly (must have something to do with that beautiful climate!) and I enjoyed spending the rainy afternoon here in Cuernavaca.

These are some of the artifacts from the indigenous cultures surrounding what is now Cuernavaca. They are all housed within the great Hacienda de Cortes museum. Outside of the museum sits a Cuexcomate (Cuesh-co-mah-te), used as a symbol of wealth; people would store things in their Cuexcomates, therefore, the more things that one had, the more Cuexcomates one had. And these could be found right outside of their thatched-roof homes, in their yard. The stone statue-like figure is from Xochicalco, also in the state of Morelos. The other two stone sculptures show a possible writing system and the elongated stone with the face on it displays certain Olmec characterisitcs. The last image is of a page found within an indigenous paper-book from the 16th century. It is very fascinating to be able to get a close look at all of these artifacts, the material culture of the indigenous peoples from within and around Cuauhnahuac.

And here are some of the murals painted by Diego Rivera, demonstrating the power and impact of the Spaniards. The indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica were never considered to be "gente de razon", or people of reason so the Spanish Inquisition supposedly never subjected them to any of its trials, rules, laws and regulations (unlike the African slaves who were brought to the "New World" and because they were from the "Old World", of course they were subjected to the requirements and belief system established and maintained by the Inquisition). But these murals are quite impressive; there aren't as many as at the Palacio Nacional in Mexico City, but I enjoyed being able to see them.

Taxco, Guerrero

The same day that my friend Paloma and I went to Xochicalco in the state of Morelos, we went to a little city (a town really) called Taxco in the state of Guerrero (yes! I have finally been to Guerrero, the state where it is the most difficult for archaeologists to work in Mexico- there are some people in Guerrero that do not want their ancient sites excavated, examined, etc. although of course, some of those sites have been excavated, examined, etc. and there are people in other states as well that do not want archaeologists to work but two of my professors say that Guerrero is the worst for rejecting outsider archaeologists). Anyways, I took this first picture from my seat on the bus just to show that it was really early to be traveling but it was a pretty morning. So Taxco is supposedly named thus because of the Spaniards and their silly pronunciations of indigenous words. The Aztecas (really the Tenochca Mexica) had allegedly established a place in the northwest of what is today known as the state of Guerrero and named it Tlacho (which is supposedly a derivative of the word for ball game in Nahuatl- I would need to verify that one!). So the Spaniards did their best, I suppose, and named the place Taxco. It became a colonial haven for silver mining and has some great silver jewelry stores (present-day of course; during the first colonial decades, I'm sure most of the silver didn't stay in Tlacho, I mean Taxco). It was a nice and charming town and I enjoyed the day. A few of the pics are of the marketplace and just from walking around the town.

The majority of buildings in Taxco are these whitewashed buildings with the orange/red tile rooftops. It's a charming town that sits on the mountainside. You can barely make out the big jesus in some of these photos; he watches over the whole city.

Here are a few more pictures from around Taxco. I just had to get some pics of the Big Jesus overlooking all of Taxco (at least I'm pretty sure it's a statue of Jesus!). Also, the church that sits on the zocalo is very pretty and rather large. Its name is Santa Prisca (a 250 year old baroque-style church) and the entrie zocalo really focuses on this building. It was a beautiful day to be in Taxco, although perhaps a bit overcast for a little bit of the day; we did spend like almost seven hours here and there wasn't a whole lot to do, but it's a cute town and has some gorgeous silver jewelry!