Surface Archaeology in the Chilapa-Zitlala Area of Guerrero, México, Season I

Looting

Sites are being damaged by means of looting and urban expansion. Not only did we come across numerous instances of old pits dug by looters (Figure 20, shown above), and in one instance the remains of the excavation was so fresh that I suspect the looters were running down the western side of Cerro Tenantli as we were climbing up the east flank (Figure 21, above). The city of Chilapa is on the verge of overrunning two sites. Next to one, La Muralla, CZ-024, the owner of the land is on the verge of selling the site as lots in order to avoid it being overrun by poachers who, supported by a political party, have reached the edge of the site (Figure 22, shown below). The other case is CZ-055, Xaxalla, where the hill is literally being torn down for building material (Figure 23, below). Both of these sites are important to understanding the area; the first because of Late Formative occupation, the second due to the presence of a great density of unique ceramics.

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