Archaeological Sites in Morelos Barbara Konieczna* he diversity of climates, soil, flora and fau - dominions of Mesoamerica. This made possible na, as well as the physiography of what is the concentration in Morelos of a mosa ic of pre- Tnow the state of Morelos was the de ter - Hispanic cultural elements from the vast region min ing factor in the establishment of a great many of Mesoamerica that the local population assi mi - human settlements there in the pre-His panic pe - lated and molded with its own particular stamp. ri od because the inhabitants had count less re - The oldest settlements known in Morelos sources for both subsistence and trade. The date from approximately 1500 B.C., or the begin - roads through its valleys and lake basins were ning of the middle pre-classic period, when used for traveling to other cultural regions, thus humanity adopted a fully agricultural village life. favoring trade that extended to the most remote These settlements were established near water, a basic requirement for sedentary existence and producing agricultural surpluses. Gualupita, Ce - * Archaeologist. Researcher at the National Institute of Anthropology and History Morelos Center. rritos, Cuautlixco, Yautepec, Tlaltizapan, Olin te - Photos reproduced by permission of the National Ins ti - pec, Nexpa and Chalcat zingo are some of the tute of Anthropology and History. CONACULTA -INAH -MEX archaeological sites from that period. a í u g n u M l e i n a D y b s o t o h P Xochicalco. Voices of Mexico • 55 Flower, Chalcatzingo. The King, Chalcatzingo. inhabitants built big rooms (some 8 to 10 meters long) over a broad area at the foot of large rocks. They dealt with the uneven terrain by building embankments and terraces. Not much can be seen of these houses today since after being ex - cavated and studied, they were covered over with dirt again to preserve them, given the poor con - ditions the buildings were in. Archaeologists also excavated the foundations of temples and human burial sites with offerings. In its heyday, Chalcatzingo must have been The ruins of Chalcatzingo, first inhabited around 1500 B.C., were discovered in 1934. important for the whole Central Highland. Its inhabitants maintained contact with very re mote CHALCATZINGO areas, as can be seen in the influence of the great Olmec artistic style from the Gulf of Mexico in Located in the eastern part of the Valley of Mo - its magnificent bas-reliefs. The realist, mythical relos, Chalcatzingo was first publicized in 1934 and even symbolic representations reflect their by archaeologist Eulalia Guzmán thanks to her creators’ world view. discovery of a magnificent bas-relief on a stone The decline of Chalcatzingo, around the year called “The King.” Its origins date back to 1500 500 B.C. coincided with that of other urban B.C., and evidence indicates that the first occu - centers in the Valley of Mexico and the Gulf pation of the area lasted 500 years: it was a small Coast. Its inhabitants remained there, however, hamlet of farmers who traded with the peoples until the arrival of the Nahuatl tribes in the thir - on the Gulf Coast, the Valley of Oaxaca, Pue - teenth century of our era and adapted to the bla and what is now the State of Mexico. About new political and economic organization in the 1000 B.C. the settlement grew considerably, area. With the arrival of the Spaniards, the pre- reaching its high point around 750 B.C. The Hispanic buildings were covered with new con - 78 The Splendor of Mexico Legend has it that Quetzalcóatl was born where the vast expanse of Xochicalco’s civic and religious buildings were erected. structions and remained hidden until the twen - tieth century. LAS PILAS Las Pilas is located in the environs of Chal - catzingo. This settlement flourished between the years A.D. 500 and A.D. 650, during the clas - sical period (which lasted from A.D. 100 to A.D. 850). This was when Teotihuacan extended its influence throughout Mesoamerica. The Las A plumed serpent winds all the way around this pyramid atop the Xochicalco ruins. Pilas archaeological site retains relatively few vestiges of the ancient culture, but what does XOCHICALCO remain reveals architecture of the classical Teo - tihuacan type, characterized by the use of the The splendor of Xochicalco came between A.D. so-called talud-tablero , typical of temple con - 700 and 900. After the fall of Teotihuacan, it struction. became the most important cosmopolitan cen - Its inhabitants settled near the springs given ter in Central Mexico. their water “culture.” During excavation, canals The city was planned. Its hilltop location built with great flag-stones to carry the water to required extraordinary adaptation and use of storage deposits for use in the dry season were the topography. All the works like underpasses, discovered. After the canals were no longer fill-ins, ramps, stairways, waterways, etc., de - used to convey water, ceremonial human buri - monstrate a profound knowledge of engineer - als were effected in these aqueducts: the bod - ing, mathematics, architecture and, of course, ies, placed in lotus position, were flanked by aesthetics. Access to this fortified city was res - rich offerings. tricted and controlled. Multi-level plazas were 79 Voices of Mexico • 55 The remains of the temple to Tepoztecatl survey the entire Valley of Cuernavaca. Part of the ruins atop the Tepozteco Mountain. built, culminating with the main plaza, the fore pillars and columns were used to hold up highest, on which the buildings of the govern - the roofs. In addition to holy buildings and ing elite were erected. And the great walls pro - palaces, there were warehouses and storehous - tected the city from intruders. es for grain and water, temazcal steam baths and Xochicalco’s buildings were of both a civic ball game courts. and religious nature and many incorporated dec - All this grandeur met with a violent end orative elements from other regions of Mesoa - when domestic rebellions led to the destruction merica. On the base of the feathered serpent are and burning of the buildings. The greatness of Mixtec, Zapotec, Maya and Nahua glyphs in Xochicalco endured only in the memory of local bas-relief. Other iconographic elements inhabitants, narrated hundreds of years later to placed on the sides of this building indicate Spanish chroniclers. that the city’s inhabitants knew astronomy and, therefore, had knowledge of calendars. This can also be seen in the observatory built THE TEPOZTECO to watch the movement of the heavens located in a natural cave adapted for the purpose. The Tepozteco is a post-classical archaeologi - Thanks to archaeological findings, we know cal site, singular in that it is located on top of that the city’s inhabitants traded with the Gulf the mountains surrounding the town of Te - of Mexico and the Pacific Coasts, as well as with poz tlán. Among the different constructions at other inland regions: many decorations have the site are the remains of the temple discov - been found representing animals and plants ered in 1885, apparently dedicated to a deity identifiable with those remote lands. called Tepoztecatl, dating from the late post- The city’s buildings were covered with classical period (1350-1521). To erect it, the stucco and painted and connected to each inhabitants had to level the rocky terrain and other by well-built boulevards and build a plat form upon which several buildings ramps. The spaces in their in - were placed, of which Tepoztecatl’s temple is teriors were ample, and there - the most in teresting. m. seu Mu Site . ’s ure alco lpt hic Scu Xoc The Splendor of Mexico Yautepec is an excellent example of a royal palace or tecpan , originally covered with stucco and red, blue and yellow paint. According to archaeologist Giselle Canto Agui - like Chalcatzingo. The ostentatious building, lar, the buildings taken as a whole are arranged in whose facade has been preserved, corresponds such a way as to suggest a royal palace similar to the last stages of building, when Morelos was to the one found in Yautepec. 1 In the door-jambs part of the Mexica empire. Originally, it was of the temple’s center room and on the benches covered with stucco and painted in brilliant with their backs to the walls, bas-reliefs have hues of red, blue and yellow, among other col - been preserved that depict geometric designs, ors. As the building was being cleaned, remains personages, calendar dates and symbols of this of paint were found, and among the different people’s world view, among them, the god of pul - geometric designs, archaeologists were able to que (a fermented drink made from the sap of the identify the representation of the god of water, maguey plant), Ometochtli. In the middle of Tláloc. The upper part of the palace has nu - the central bedroom, on a pedestal, was the fig - merous internal patios surrounded by rooms, a ure of Tepoztecatl, until its presence so disqui - pattern of distribution typical of a tec - eted the Spanish friars that they removed it in pan . Around the bed-chamber of the sixteenth century. the main l ord were workshops, store - rooms and service quarters. The platform on which the tecpan is YAUTEPEC built is 95 meters by 75 meters, but Yau te pec as a whole in its hey - South of Cuernavaca, at the entrance of the day took up 200 hectares, with town of Yautepec is the large mound of the Ar - a populat ion of approximately chaeological site of the same name. Thanks to 11,500. 2 Ac cording to archaeolo gist archaeologists’ patient excavations, this site has Hor ten sia de Vega, the tecpan was twice proffered valuable information about life in a cov ered by other structures, with the front royal palace, or tecpan .