Western and Northern Mexican Worlds: Communities, Landscapes, and Connections

INAH uses Chalchihuites to compare archaeological contexts across a region; it is not a name for one known ancient electorate or people. The public interpretation proposes relationships between built forms and sky observation. These proposals cannot decide all social or linguistic identities.

Reference town or regional context

Chalchihuites, Zacatecas (orientation only): approximate public-town or distant institutional orientation, not an excavation, burial, sacred-site, cave-entrance, private compound or vulnerable-deposit location; never a territorial, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, political, religious, sovereignty, farming, water-rights or route boundary. The orientation may be far from the archaeological context. No access, collecting or travel permission is implied.

Language family

Language, material classification, political allegiance, residence and living identity are distinct; this record does not classify every ancient speaker.

INAH's landscape interpretation combines rock art with other archaeological traces. Association requires checking rather than one date for all marks. The conservation study examines human damage and prevention in Nuevo León; public familiarity is not permission to touch or alter surfaces.

Reference town or regional context

Monterrey, Nuevo León (orientation only): approximate public-town or distant institutional orientation, not an excavation, burial, sacred-site, cave-entrance, private compound or vulnerable-deposit location; never a territorial, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, political, religious, sovereignty, farming, water-rights or route boundary. The orientation may be far from the archaeological context. No access, collecting or travel permission is implied.

Language family

Language, material classification, political allegiance, residence and living identity are distinct; this record does not classify every ancient speaker.

INAH's summaries assign different intervals to prominence and broader activity. Such ranges should not become exact dates for every building. The public interpretation proposes sky-related planning. That proposal is distinct from proof of the language or membership of all ancient residents.

Reference town or regional context

San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato (orientation only): approximate public-town or distant institutional orientation, not an excavation, burial, sacred-site, cave-entrance, private compound or vulnerable-deposit location; never a territorial, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, political, religious, sovereignty, farming, water-rights or route boundary. The orientation may be far from the archaeological context. No access, collecting or travel permission is implied.

Language family

Language, material classification, political allegiance, residence and living identity are distinct; this record does not classify every ancient speaker.

INAH distinguishes the hill settlement's late prominence from the longer span assigned to the Trincheras classification. The terrace interpretation concerns several activities, not a demonstrated military purpose for every retaining wall.

Reference town or regional context

Trincheras, Sonora (orientation only): approximate public-town or distant institutional orientation, not an excavation, burial, sacred-site, cave-entrance, private compound or vulnerable-deposit location; never a territorial, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, political, religious, sovereignty, farming, water-rights or route boundary. The orientation may be far from the archaeological context. No access, collecting or travel permission is implied.

Language family

Language, material classification, political allegiance, residence and living identity are distinct; this record does not classify every ancient speaker.

INAH describes different architectural episodes rather than one construction event or unchanged institution. The institutional account emphasizes the hill and its water setting; environmental context cannot prove territorial entitlement.

Reference town or regional context

Teúl de González Ortega, Zacatecas (orientation only): approximate public-town or distant institutional orientation, not an excavation, burial, sacred-site, cave-entrance, private compound or vulnerable-deposit location; never a territorial, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, political, religious, sovereignty, farming, water-rights or route boundary. The orientation may be far from the archaeological context. No access, collecting or travel permission is implied.

Language family

Language, material classification, political allegiance, residence and living identity are distinct; this record does not classify every ancient speaker.

INAH describes plazas and ballcourt architecture, which record collective construction but not every participant's political status. The interpretation compares objects and imagery across regions. Similar motifs alone cannot identify a colony or all residents' beliefs.

Reference town or regional context

Colima, Colima (orientation only): approximate public-town or distant institutional orientation, not an excavation, burial, sacred-site, cave-entrance, private compound or vulnerable-deposit location; never a territorial, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, political, religious, sovereignty, farming, water-rights or route boundary. The orientation may be far from the archaeological context. No access, collecting or travel permission is implied.

Language family

Language, material classification, political allegiance, residence and living identity are distinct; this record does not classify every ancient speaker.

INAH describes activity across different parts of the landscape, so prominent high buildings cannot stand for all residents. The interpretation discusses adobe and plant-based construction alongside stone. Preservation affects which kinds of labor remain visible.

Reference town or regional context

Ocampo, Guanajuato (orientation only): approximate public-town or distant institutional orientation, not an excavation, burial, sacred-site, cave-entrance, private compound or vulnerable-deposit location; never a territorial, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, political, religious, sovereignty, farming, water-rights or route boundary. The orientation may be far from the archaeological context. No access, collecting or travel permission is implied.

Language family

Language, material classification, political allegiance, residence and living identity are distinct; this record does not classify every ancient speaker.

Sánchez and colleagues report tools associated with gomphothere remains; the excavated assemblage does not enumerate an early population. The earlier INAH account and the later calibrated study use different chronological presentations. Their numbers should not be combined into one undifferentiated age.

Reference town or regional context

Hermosillo, Sonora (orientation only): approximate public-town or distant institutional orientation, not an excavation, burial, sacred-site, cave-entrance, private compound or vulnerable-deposit location; never a territorial, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, political, religious, sovereignty, farming, water-rights or route boundary. The orientation may be far from the archaeological context. No access, collecting or travel permission is implied.

Language family

Language, material classification, political allegiance, residence and living identity are distinct; this record does not classify every ancient speaker.

Oliveros and de los Ríos reassess radiocarbon evidence. Dating selected samples is not a single date for every associated object. The mineralogical study examines worked materials and social interpretation; material identification alone cannot name all makers or users.

Reference town or regional context

Zamora, Michoacán (orientation only): approximate public-town or distant institutional orientation, not an excavation, burial, sacred-site, cave-entrance, private compound or vulnerable-deposit location; never a territorial, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, political, religious, sovereignty, farming, water-rights or route boundary. The orientation may be far from the archaeological context. No access, collecting or travel permission is implied.

Language family

Language, material classification, political allegiance, residence and living identity are distinct; this record does not classify every ancient speaker.

INAH describes built circular arrangements rather than an ancient population category. Similar layouts need not imply one state. The public interpretation places prominent complexes within a wider occupied landscape; monumental structures do not describe every household.

Reference town or regional context

Teuchitlán, Jalisco (orientation only): approximate public-town or distant institutional orientation, not an excavation, burial, sacred-site, cave-entrance, private compound or vulnerable-deposit location; never a territorial, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, political, religious, sovereignty, farming, water-rights or route boundary. The orientation may be far from the archaeological context. No access, collecting or travel permission is implied.

Language family

Language, material classification, political allegiance, residence and living identity are distinct; this record does not classify every ancient speaker.

INAH describes architecture with successive modifications; a visible façade is not a complete occupation history. The institutional discussion compares architectural forms with other regions. Style alone cannot decide residents' language or political allegiance.

Reference town or regional context

Zapopan, Jalisco (orientation only): approximate public-town or distant institutional orientation, not an excavation, burial, sacred-site, cave-entrance, private compound or vulnerable-deposit location; never a territorial, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, political, religious, sovereignty, farming, water-rights or route boundary. The orientation may be far from the archaeological context. No access, collecting or travel permission is implied.

Language family

Language, material classification, political allegiance, residence and living identity are distinct; this record does not classify every ancient speaker.

INAH describes a built settlement with drainage and circulation spaces, providing evidence of labor beyond monumental display. The interpretation discusses earlier Capacha comparisons alongside later urban development. Early material does not date every building.

Reference town or regional context

Colima, Colima (orientation only): approximate public-town or distant institutional orientation, not an excavation, burial, sacred-site, cave-entrance, private compound or vulnerable-deposit location; never a territorial, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, political, religious, sovereignty, farming, water-rights or route boundary. The orientation may be far from the archaeological context. No access, collecting or travel permission is implied.

Language family

Language, material classification, political allegiance, residence and living identity are distinct; this record does not classify every ancient speaker.

INAH describes rooms and patios alongside water-management features, directing attention to construction and maintenance labor. The interpretation considers cultivated foods together with hunting, fishing and gathering; one subsistence label cannot describe every household.

Reference town or regional context

Durango, Durango (orientation only): approximate public-town or distant institutional orientation, not an excavation, burial, sacred-site, cave-entrance, private compound or vulnerable-deposit location; never a territorial, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, political, religious, sovereignty, farming, water-rights or route boundary. The orientation may be far from the archaeological context. No access, collecting or travel permission is implied.

Language family

Language, material classification, political allegiance, residence and living identity are distinct; this record does not classify every ancient speaker.

The museum describes an INAH–Arizona project studying early agricultural communities; its research categories do not define a living people. The stratigraphic study separates sediment units from cultural associations. An old sediment age alone cannot date an irrigation feature.

Reference town or regional context

Trincheras, Sonora (orientation only): approximate public-town or distant institutional orientation, not an excavation, burial, sacred-site, cave-entrance, private compound or vulnerable-deposit location; never a territorial, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, political, religious, sovereignty, farming, water-rights or route boundary. The orientation may be far from the archaeological context. No access, collecting or travel permission is implied.

Language family

Language, material classification, political allegiance, residence and living identity are distinct; this record does not classify every ancient speaker.

INAH discusses built connections among settlements and resource-work areas. This atlas does not turn them into navigable routes or territorial boundaries. INAH distinguishes later identifications with Chicomóztoc from archaeological chronological work; the traditions are not neutral occupation records.

Reference town or regional context

Zacatecas, Zacatecas (orientation only): approximate public-town or distant institutional orientation, not an excavation, burial, sacred-site, cave-entrance, private compound or vulnerable-deposit location; never a territorial, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, political, religious, sovereignty, farming, water-rights or route boundary. The orientation may be far from the archaeological context. No access, collecting or travel permission is implied.

Language family

Language, material classification, political allegiance, residence and living identity are distinct; this record does not classify every ancient speaker.

INAH distinguishes proposed carving chronologies from much earlier materials in the surrounding region; they are not interchangeable evidence. Survey evidence places the carved landscape within wider settlement histories. Aztatlán comparisons do not identify every participant's language.

Reference town or regional context

Mazatlán, Sinaloa (orientation only): approximate public-town or distant institutional orientation, not an excavation, burial, sacred-site, cave-entrance, private compound or vulnerable-deposit location; never a territorial, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, political, religious, sovereignty, farming, water-rights or route boundary. The orientation may be far from the archaeological context. No access, collecting or travel permission is implied.

Language family

Language, material classification, political allegiance, residence and living identity are distinct; this record does not classify every ancient speaker.

INAH describes restored plaza groups and buildings with different proposed roles; the displayed area is not the whole settlement. The interpretation names a wind-deity association for the circular building. Architectural analogy does not prove every resident's belief.

Reference town or regional context

Ixtlán del Río, Nayarit (orientation only): approximate public-town or distant institutional orientation, not an excavation, burial, sacred-site, cave-entrance, private compound or vulnerable-deposit location; never a territorial, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, political, religious, sovereignty, farming, water-rights or route boundary. The orientation may be far from the archaeological context. No access, collecting or travel permission is implied.

Language family

Language, material classification, political allegiance, residence and living identity are distinct; this record does not classify every ancient speaker.

INAH relates settlement to cultivated ground and nearby river resources; these are interpretations of livelihood, not water-rights rulings. The site record distinguishes investigated architectural groups from the whole occupied landscape; exposed precincts cannot represent every resident.

Reference town or regional context

Abasolo, Guanajuato (orientation only): approximate public-town or distant institutional orientation, not an excavation, burial, sacred-site, cave-entrance, private compound or vulnerable-deposit location; never a territorial, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, political, religious, sovereignty, farming, water-rights or route boundary. The orientation may be far from the archaeological context. No access, collecting or travel permission is implied.

Language family

Language, material classification, political allegiance, residence and living identity are distinct; this record does not classify every ancient speaker.

INAH's account includes rooms interpreted as household and food-work spaces, not only monumental architecture. The interpretation identifies architectural representations among the carvings. Their resemblance to buildings does not make them complete survey plans.

Reference town or regional context

Pénjamo, Guanajuato (orientation only): approximate public-town or distant institutional orientation, not an excavation, burial, sacred-site, cave-entrance, private compound or vulnerable-deposit location; never a territorial, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, political, religious, sovereignty, farming, water-rights or route boundary. The orientation may be far from the archaeological context. No access, collecting or travel permission is implied.

Language family

Language, material classification, political allegiance, residence and living identity are distinct; this record does not classify every ancient speaker.

UNESCO recognizes a distributed rock-art landscape rather than a single settlement. Its legacy chronology is not a direct date for each panel. INAH's account relates paintings to archaeological and historical evidence; later descriptions cannot supply every maker's self-designation.

Reference town or regional context

San Ignacio, Baja California Sur (orientation only): approximate public-town or distant institutional orientation, not an excavation, burial, sacred-site, cave-entrance, private compound or vulnerable-deposit location; never a territorial, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, political, religious, sovereignty, farming, water-rights or route boundary. The orientation may be far from the archaeological context. No access, collecting or travel permission is implied.

Language family

Language, material classification, political allegiance, residence and living identity are distinct; this record does not classify every ancient speaker.