<< Feature Articles >> Careyeros Hill - Ancient Village or Settlement in Mexico
Submitted by C_Michael_Hogan on Tuesday, 08 January 2008 Page Views: 22307
Multi-periodSite Name: Careyeros HillCountry: Mexico Type: Ancient Village or Settlement
Nearest Town: Puerto Vallarta Nearest Village: Punta de Mita
Latitude: 20.783278N Longitude: 105.522008W
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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Dating to at least as early as 200 BC, the drystone constructions of Careyeros Hill include a very long (approximately 34 meters) astronomical observatory structure, priest's dwelling and ceremonial platform deriving from the Aztatlan culture.
Careyeros Hill is an ancient ridgetop observatory and ceremonial site in the coastal hills of the state of Nayarit, Mexico. Dating to at least as early as 200 BC, the drystone constructions include a very long (approximately 34 meters) astronomical observatory structure, priest's dwelling and ceremonial platform deriving from the Aztatlan culture. This site overlooks Punta de Mita and the Bahia Banderos on the Pacific Ocean. This culture is thought to have been influenced by Toltec and Huichol cultures to the south in Jalisco, which were active in the Pre-Formative Period of around 1500 BC. The site is on private property and access is subject to approval from the property owner; I am indebted to my private local guide Enrique Martinez for his excellent assistance in visiting Careyeros Hill.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT The local Aztatlan culture was relatively late in developing by regional standards, possibly due to the austere terrain and lack of a large freshwater source, other than the modest flow volume Careyeros River. Not far to the east in the Sierra Madre Mountains live the Huichol people, a proud tribe whom the Spanish failed to completely subdue. The peyote smoking Huichol from the Sierra Madre as well as the Early Formative culture on the Jalisco coastal plain influenced the Aztatlan in architecture and art. In particular the Jalisco peoples produced sophisticated monumental architecture in the Pre-Formative era dating to 1500 BC, including complex shaft chambered stone tombs. Toltec influences can also be found in Aztatlan culture, particularly evident in some of the ceramic figurines.
The earliest Aztatlan architecture is known from circa 200 BC and consisted of relatively simple stone structures, usually as platforms with wooden and thatch overstructures. In fact, this is the type of structure found on Careyeros Hill, although the architecture here has evolved and is properly dated to the Post-Classic Period, or about 1200 AD. It is differentiated from its precursor civilizations by a grander scale and specialized uses such as the observatory. Invariably comparisons with the advanced Mayans to the south must be made, although the contrast is manifestly unfair due to the late development of the Aztatlan; for example, the drystone Lubaantun is far more elaborate in construction compared to Careyeros Hill, but the societal style is similar, with farming in the surrounding lands, while the ruling families lived on higher ground at the ceremonial center with pole and thatch dwelling built on stone platforms. (Hogan, 2007) Furthermore, the linear stone observatory at Careyeros Hill is impressive for its scale and its accurate alignment on a north-south axis.
Chametla peoples to the north are associated with the Aztatlan emergence, the former thought to be a precursor Early Classic sequence, which rose at El Cahon to the north, for example, with development of a massive oval shellmound, evincing Classic Period exploitation of marine resources. The Aztatlan people were thought to have inhabited El Cahon at a later Classic Period. It is worth noting that shells found at Careyeros show Classic and Post-Classic Period use of a murex shell, ostensibly including dye manufacture. Evidence of longer distance Post-Classic commerce with tribes as remote as Arizona and Peru are evident in artifact finds at Careyeros Hill.
ARCHITECTURE AND ART The dominant structure atop Careyeros Hill is the linear style parablolic-cross section shaped observatory, which likely served the purposes of: (a) lookout post over the lower lying farmlands and points of land or sea attack; (b) processional causeway; and (c) astronomical platform for analysis of the stars, moon and sun. South of the observatory and in line with its axis is a rectangular platform whose drystone foundation likely supported a pole and thatch priest dwelling. Like the observatory this structure holds commanding views to the south and east, overlooking the expansive agricultural coastal plain and northern beaches of Bahia Banderos.
Further south on the ridge and generally in line with the observatory axis is the expansive ceremonial platform, likely the site of religious rituals. This large drystone rectangular structure has an unimpeded southern view of the extreme coast of Punta de Mita.
Aztatlan pottery is distinguished by polychrome designs and engraved work, (Trigger, 2000) in addition to its red buff ceramic figurines. Recoveries at Aztatlan sites are also noted for the richness of gold, silver and copper artifacts, with the peak of this culture's art standing in the Post-Classic Period of about 1200 AD. An interesting granite incised oblate disk has been recovered at Careyeros Hill, which artifact with its cross-hatched incisions is believed to have been used for abrading tree bark to manufacture paper. This object is in a private collection on the Punta de Mita peninsula.
ENVIRONMENT Careyeros Hill consists of sedimentary rock intermixed with volcanics. Volcanic activity in the region is testified to by the active Ceboruco strato-volcano to the north, which last erupted about 1875 AD; this Nayarit volcano produced Mexico's largest Holocene eruption (Smithsonian, 2007) Overall the thin soil mantle of Careyeros Hill supports a dry subtropical forest which is the dominant ecosystem of the coastal Nayarit region. The rather dense closed crown forest is virtually impenetrable, with a canopy height of around six to eight meters. Rainfall is received within a narrow season of July to September, and yields approximately 90 centimeters per annum. During the rainy season the jungle accrues a lush verdant look, and evidence of life abounds; even during the long dry season. There is a diverse flora on Careyeros Hill which supports numerous birds, mammals and reptiles, including sizable iguanas; characteristically dry forests at this latitude are high in endemic species, although little classification work has been done in this locale.
REFERENCES
* Smithsonian (2007) ‘'Global Volcanism Program: Ceboruco'‘
* C.Michael Hogan (2007) ‘'Lubaantun'‘, The Megalithic Portal, ed. Andy Burnham
* Bruce G. Trigger, Wilcomb E. Washburn, Richard E W. Adams (2000) ‘'The Cambridge History of the Native Peoples of the Americas'‘, Cambridge University Press ISBN 0521333938
The above content was produced by C. Michael Hogan for the Megalithic Portal.
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