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

Initial Results

We identified and recorded a total of 23 archaeological sites, which were classsifed according to the following categories:

Ruling center.  These are extensive sites showing a core area with monumental architecture. They are characterized by the possible diversity of public functions carried out within them. There may be traces of dwellings and terraces in the surrounding area. In general, these settlements are located in places with a visual vantage point over the surrounding area. Up to now we have identified the sites of Alta Vista and Cerro Moctezuma as ruling centers, considering them as seats of the chieftainships so far identified.

Click on image to enlarge.

Civic and/or religious center.  These sites are characterized by having a public zone with monumental architecture. They are not extensive and show evidence of dwellings at the base of the topographic elevation where they lay, and have an extraordinary visual coverage of the region. They usually show one or more peripheral walls that surround or protect the central zone. The following sites belong to this category: Mesa La Gloria (Figure 5), Cerro Alto, Cerro Pedregoso, and Cerro Chapín.

Local center.  This is an extensive site showing a central area with public architecture surrounded by concentrations of people associated with the exploitation of natural resources (mainly agriculture and mining). The following are examples of this type of site: La Difunta, Pajones, La Nopalera Grande, and El Vesuvio, which were considered as possible acephalous communities.

Village.  These are extensive habitation sites, which from the surface are perceived as great concentrations of ceramic and lithic material, with no evidence of architecture. The following are examples of this type of site: La Tijera, La Soledad, Loma Flores, Punta Peñasco, La Pilitas, and El Bajío, which were probably occupied by sedentary groups of families.

Hunter-gatherer camp.  This type of site consists of concentrations of lithic and ceramic material with seasonal occupation. Occasionally there may be hearths and stone alignments which may belong to post-conquest tribal groups. The following are examples of this type of site: El Pino, La Lagunita, and El Encino.

Mine groups.  As their name suggests, these are extensive sites with evidence of Prehispanic mining activities, which may or may not have evidence of dwellings. Although this type of site has been reported previously, up to now we have only recorded two of them: El Vergel, Gualterio mine group, and Ejido Cárdenas mine group (Figure 6).

Prehispanic Mining
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