Suchil River Valley Archaeological Project, Zacatecas and Durango, 2005 Season

Introduction

The archaeological survey undertaken during the months of March and November of 2005 was made possible thanks to a grant given by the Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, Inc. (FAMSI No. 05049). The study encompassed part of the San Antonio River Valley and a small portion of the Colorado River, both of which feed into the Suchil River. With these surveys we could locate and record 23 sites, as well as obtain surface archaeological material and information about the physical landscape which might be linked with the ideological aspect.

As synthesis we can point out that the region was previously studied by scholars such as Don Manuel Gamio (1910), Alden Mason (1937), and Dr. Charles Kelley who, together with his team of colaborators, developed a series of works aimed at characterizing the Chalchihuites cultural sequence. Between 1952 and 1976 Kelley and his team made surveys in the eastern slopes of the Western Sierra Madre in Chihuahua, Durango, and Zacatecas, and excavations in the site of Schöeder-Ferrería. Between 1961 and 1963, together with Loomis, they surveyed and excavated several sites in the Suchil River region. Lastly, Kelley excavated the archaeological site of Alta Vista during several seasons (1971, 1972, 1974, 1991 and 1993).

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This research showed the existence of several sedentary groups generically known as "Chalchihuites culture", although their definition, scale, trajectory and interaction with other regions are still the subject of discussion among specialists. We can say that the territories currently within the states of Zacatecas and southern Durango were inhabited in Prehispanic times by sedentary groups that were able to attain an important level of local development and established several relationships with other communities, both nomadic and sedentary.

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Kelley suggested that the area was inhabited by several social groups who around A.D. 200 received some type of influence (soft diffusion) or passive transmission of cultural elements between Mesoamerican, sub-Mesoamerican and Chichimec societies. Later, at the end of the Classic period, these groups were subjected to some sort of pressure by other groups coming from the central highlands, who had ceremonial knowledge (hard diffusion) and were trying to appropriate an important amount of minerals (an array of blue-green stones and pigments). This argument is currently being used to support the idea of a commercial relationship between this region and Teotihuacán.

In our research we are also proposing to evaluate the idea of a possible intervention by Teotihuacán in the process of social development and complexity of the groups settled in the region during the Mesoamerican Classic period.

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