Cuahilama
Encyclopedia
| Name: | Chuahilama Hill Ceremonial Center |
| Location | Xochimilco Xochimilco Xochimilco is one of the sixteen delegaciones or boroughs within Mexican Federal District. The borough is centered on the formerly independent city of Xochimilco, which was established on what was the southern shore of Lake Xochimilco in the pre-Hispanic period... , Mexico City Mexico City Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole... |
| Coordinates | 19°14.45′47"N 99°04′28.71"W |
| Culture | Xochimilcas |
| Period | Late mesoamerican Preclassical - 1200–1500 CE. |
| Foundation | |
| Decline | |
| Language | |
| INAH Official Page | Non existent |
Cuahilama is a Hill and an archaeological site located south east of Santa Cruz Acalpixca, in the Cuahilama neighborhood, near the Xochimilco Archaeological Museum. It was a ceremonial center, in the hill are prehispanic images engraved in basaltic rock.
Location
The “Cuahilama Cerro” or Cuailama, is located at “prolongación 2 de abril” Street, between streets Cacalanco and 3 de mayo, very near the Santa Cruz Acalpixca town. In the XochimilcoXochimilco
Xochimilco is one of the sixteen delegaciones or boroughs within Mexican Federal District. The borough is centered on the formerly independent city of Xochimilco, which was established on what was the southern shore of Lake Xochimilco in the pre-Hispanic period...
borough, south east of México City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
History
The XochimilcoXochimilco
Xochimilco is one of the sixteen delegaciones or boroughs within Mexican Federal District. The borough is centered on the formerly independent city of Xochimilco, which was established on what was the southern shore of Lake Xochimilco in the pre-Hispanic period...
area was inhabited by Preclassical groups 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...
, Copilco
Copilco
Copilco was an important Mesoamerican ceremonial center, southwest of Mexico City, Mexico. Copilco is located approximately four kilometers north of Cuicuilco, both are part of the area covered by lava from several eruptions of the Xitle volcano, as of three thousand years ago.It is very likely...
and Tlatilco
Tlatilco
Tlatilco was a large pre-Columbian village in the Valley of Mexico situated near the modern-day town of the same name in the Mexican Federal District. It was one of the first chiefdom centers to arise in the Valley, flourishing on the western shore of Lake Texcoco during the Middle Pre-Classic...
(1500-200 BCE), and subsequently, in the period Classical period, by the Teotihuacano (CA. 200 BCE-700 CE).
Apparently, Acalpixca was founded by the xochimilcas around 1254 CE, the first nahuatlacas tribes arrived from Aztlán
Aztlán
Aztlán is the mythical ancestral home of the Nahua peoples, one of the main cultural groups in Mesoamerica. And, by extension, is the mythical homeland of the Uto-Aztecan peoples. Aztec is the Nahuatl word for "people from Aztlan".-Legend:...
in the north to the Anáhuac Valley in 1265 CE, the first Xochimilca Lord, Acatonalli, founded the village on the Hill Cuauhilama. Between 1450 and 1521, Santa Cruz Acalpixca was a small village, although capital of the area, it was during this period that the petroglyphs were made.
Those settlers were farmers, founded the settlement with Acatonalli, its first ruler, who while facing food shortages proposed before the Council of elders, placing wooden rods filled with organic dirt, thereby over the water, creating the Chinampa
Chinampa
Chinampa is a method of ancient Mesoamerican agriculture which used small, rectangle-shaped areas of fertile arable land to grow crops on the shallow lake beds in the Valley of Mexico.-Description:...
in the Lake, agricultural method that has been transmitted from generation to generation since prehispanic times until the present day, they produced corn
Corn
Corn is the name used in the United States, Canada, and Australia for the grain maize.In much of the English-speaking world, the term "corn" is a generic term for cereal crops, such as* Barley* Oats* Wheat* Rye- Places :...
, chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, beans, pumpkin
Pumpkin
A pumpkin is a gourd-like squash of the genus Cucurbita and the family Cucurbitaceae . It commonly refers to cultivars of any one of the species Cucurbita pepo, Cucurbita mixta, Cucurbita maxima, and Cucurbita moschata, and is native to North America...
and flowers as well as other crops.
From Cuahilama, the Xochimilcas would have extended over the southern shore of the Xochimilco
Xochimilco
Xochimilco is one of the sixteen delegaciones or boroughs within Mexican Federal District. The borough is centered on the formerly independent city of Xochimilco, which was established on what was the southern shore of Lake Xochimilco in the pre-Hispanic period...
lake, the islets of Tláhuac
Tláhuac
Tláhuac is one of the 16 delegaciones into which Mexico's Federal District is divided. It is located on the east edge of the district and is largely rural in character. The main town, San Pedro Tláhuac, is situated alongside a lake, and is the site of a 16th century church. The borough had a 2010...
and Míxquic, and towards the Ajusco-Chichinauhtzin mountain range.
| Period | Subdivision | Date | Summary | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Preclassical | Early Preclassical | 2500–1200 a. C. | Diffuse population | |
| Mid-Preclassical | 1200 – 400 a. C. | Cuicuilco, Copilco & Tlatilco Tribes | ||
| Late Preclassical | 400 a. C. - 200 d. C. | Teotihuacans | ||
| Classical | 200 – 600 d. C. | Teotihuacans | ||
| Late Classical | 600 – 900 d. C. | Teotihuacans, Toltecs & Chichimecs | ||
| Postclassical | Early Preclassical | 900 – 1250 d. C. | Xochimilcas from Aztlán and Cuahilama settlement | |
| Late Preclassical | 1250–1521 d. C. | Chinampas construction, subdued by Mexicas, Spanish conquest | ||
| Note: Periods used differ slightly from those used in the mesoamerican región, in general. | ||||
Archaeological Zone
At Cuahilama (Nahuatl= “old woman head”) is an observatory, a shrine and a prehispanic causeway that runs east- west and provided access to the top of the hill, where the ceremonial area was probably located, and to agricultural terraces; the basements of residential quarters are registered over an area of 400 m² and a Xochimilca “jolla or military training camp.The site depicts cultural 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...
characteristics and possibly was a ceremonial center linked with agricultural fertility festivities and worship of the Sun reflected on calendar and astronomical events.
This prehispanic settlement celebrated every 52 years, the “Fuego Nuevo” (New Fire) ceremony, to ensure the arrival of the new sun.
The site is famous for the petroglyphs located on the hillside and the slopes of the Hill, are prehispoanic Petroglyph
Petroglyph
Petroglyphs are pictogram and logogram images created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, and abrading. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions of the technique to refer to such images...
s dating back to between 1200 and 1500 CE, these expressed the Xochimilcas views, and have been attributed ceremonial functions and deity veneration.
The Petroglyphs are stars, constellations and figures representations reportedly associated with the cult of fertility.
Descripción
- Ollín Nahui (fourth movement): Alludes to the Fifth Sun current, since other four Suns or stages, had already conformed other four Humanities, since the creation of the world. It has embodied the four directions of the universe and the four calendar numerals.
- The Huetzalin (the Priest): He guided the Xochimilcas from TulaTula, RussiaTula is an industrial city and the administrative center of Tula Oblast, Russia. It is located south of Moscow, on the Upa River. Population: -History:...
, according padre Durán.
- Ze CipactliCipactliCipactli 'Crocodile' or 'Caiman', was the first day of the Aztec divinatory count of 13 X 20 days , and Cipactonal 'Sign of Cipactli' was considered to have been the first diviner. In Aztec cosmology, the crocodile symbolized the earth floating in the primeval waters...
((One crocodile): belongs to the first day of the Mesoamerican calendar.
- ItzpapalotlItzpapalotlIn Aztec mythology, Itzpapalotl was a fearsome skeletal warrior goddess, who ruled over the paradise world of Tamoanchan, the paradise of victims of infant mortality and place identified where humans were created. She is the mother of Mixcoatl and is particularly associated with the moth...
(Fire Butterfly): Symbolizes poetry, song and dance. The butterfly mobility was taken as symbol of the Sun (Nahui Ollin) movement.
- Xonecuitl (curly foot): QuetzalcoatlQuetzalcoatlQuetzalcoatl 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...
staff or baton, represents the Milky WayMilky WayThe Milky Way is the galaxy that contains the Solar System. This name derives from its appearance as a dim un-resolved "milky" glowing band arching across the night sky...
, is linked to war and sacrifice (same as the skull).
- Océlotl (jaguar)PantheraPanthera is a genus of the family Felidae , which contains four well-known living species: the tiger, the lion, the jaguar, and the leopard. The genus comprises about half of the Pantherinae subfamily, the big cats...
: It's the fourteenth day of the solar calendar month. It is the symbol of war. By its nocturnal habits, the Panther was considered the NagualNagualIn Mesoamerican folk religion, a Nagual or Nahual is a human being who has the power to magically turn him- or herself into an animal form: most commonly a donkey, turkey, or dog, but also other and more powerful animals such as the jaguar and puma.Such a Nagual is believed to use his powers for...
li or TezcatlipocaTezcatlipocaTezcatlipoca was a central deity in Aztec religion. One of the four sons of Ometeotl, he is associated with a wide range of concepts, including the night sky, the night winds, hurricanes, the north, the earth, obsidian, enmity, discord, rulership, divination, temptation, jaguars, sorcery, beauty,...
God animal form mask.
- Huacalxochitl: Xochimilcas sacred plant. Medicinally used to fight infections, also was considered important for ceremonies, because it was used to ornament military heroes or the TlatoaniTlatoaniTlatoani is the Nahuatl term for the ruler of an altepetl, a pre-Hispanic state. The word literally means "speaker", but may be translated into English as "king". A is a female ruler, or queen regnant....
.
- Acocoxochitl ( DahliaDahliaDahlia is a genus of bushy, tuberous, perennial plants native to Mexico, Central America, and Colombia. There are at least 36 species of dahlia, some like D. imperialis up to 10 metres tall. Dahlia hybrids are commonly grown as garden plants...
Flower): Its Nahuatl name means: hollow stem filed with water flower. Since prehispanic times had several uses: ornamental, nutritional, medicinal and ceremonial. It is considered the Mexican national flower.
- Yoloxochitl ( MagnoliaMagnoliaMagnolia is a large genus of about 210 flowering plant species in the subfamily Magnolioideae of the family Magnoliaceae. It is named after French botanist Pierre Magnol....
Flower):
- Nahualapa: Stone map, which registers the Xochimilco Lake, 56 water springs, eight buildings with stairways and lots of paths.
- Ocelocóhuatl (Also called CihuacoatlCihuacoatlIn Aztec mythology, Cihuacoatl was one of a number of motherhood and fertility goddesses....
): In Aztec mythologyAztec mythologyThe aztec civilization recognized a polytheistic mythology, which contained the many deities and supernatural creatures from their religious beliefs. "orlando"- History :...
, Cihuacoatl ("snake woman"; also Cihuacóatl, Chihucoatl, Ciucoatl) was one of a number of motherhood and fertility goddesses. (See also Ilamatecuhtli, Teteoinnan, TlazolteotlTlazolteotlIn Aztec mythology, Tlazolteotl is a goddess of purification, steam bath, midwives, filth, and a patroness of adulterers. In Nahuatl, the word tlazolli can refer to vice and diseases. Thus, Tlazolteotl was a goddess of filth , vice, and sexual misdeeds...
, and TociTociToci is a deity figuring prominently in the religion and mythology of the pre-Columbian Aztec civilization of Mesoamerica...
.) - The “yaoquizqui (The warrior):
Current status
A sad situation affects the archaeological zone of Cuahilama, predators, vandalism and undeniably apathy of authorities and society itself.Little has been done against the deterioration of the archaeological remains, which is on the verge of losing every cultural value as a result of urban growth and lack of protection by municipal authorities and the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH), in spite of public complaints of looting of archaeological pieces, nothing has been done in the area. The Petroglyphs are unprotected, damaged by graffiti and abandonment.
The zone is private property, but the owners lack title to land, only private contracts, so purchase of the land is not possible.
Site Importance
Cuahilma is not a relevant site: INAHWhen INAH was questioned on the lack of maintenance, they responded that in Mexico there are more than 10 thousand archaeological sites, and some "are of great relevance". The petroglyphs found in this area of Xochimilco are Aztec and were venerated deities; are stars representations, constellations and figures apparently associated with fertility cult.