In the Spotlight - La Quemada La Quemada is a Mesoamerican archeological site, also known (according to different versions) as Chicomóztoc. It is located in the Villanueva Municipality, in the state of Zacatecas, about 56 km south of the city of Zacatecas on Federal Highway 54 Zacatecas–Guadalajara, in Mexico. Given the distance between La Quemada and the centre of Mesoamerica, this archeological zone has been subject of different interpretations on the part of historians and archeologists, who have attempted to associate it with different cultures. It is supposed that this place could be the legendary Chicomostoc, a Caxcan site, a Teotihuacán fortress, a Tarascan centre, a fort against Chichimeca intruders, a Toltec trading post, or simply consequence of independent development and a city of all the native groups established north of the Río Grande de Santiago. In 1615, Fray Juan de Torquemada identified La Quemada as one of the places visited by the Aztecs during their migration from the north to the Mexico central plateau, and where older people and children were left behind. Francisco Javier Clavijero, in 1780, associated this site with Chicomoztoc, where the Aztecs remained for nine years during their voyage to Anahuac. This speculation originated the belief La Quemada is the mythical place called The Seven Caves. Archeological investigations since the 1980s determined that La Quemada developed between 300 and 1200 AD (Classical and early Postclassical periods) and that it was contemporaneous of the Chalchihuites culture, characterized from the first century of our era, by intense mining activity. La Quemada is made up of numerous different size masonry platforms built onto the hill, these were foundations for structures built over them. On the south and southeastern sides is a high concentration of ceremonial constructions, some of which are complexes made up of sunken patio platforms and altar-pyramid, a typical Mesoamerican architectonic attribute. On the west side is a series of platforms or terraces, apparently more residential structures than ceremonial. All architectonic elements of La Quemada were constructed with rhyolite (volcanic effusive rock of the granite family) slabs, extracted from the hill located northeast of the Votive Pyramid. Credit : WikiPedia
Posted on: Sun, 21 Dec 2014 22:07:17 +0000
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