The Organera-Xochipala . It is one of the most representative and well-researched sites among those belonging to the Mezcala archaeological culture . In the Mexican state of Guerrero .
Summary
[ hide ]
- 1 Origin of the name
- 2 Location
- 3 History
- 4 Description of the city
- 5 Related Links
- 6 Sources
Name’s origin
Xochipala is a Nahuatl word that means “the flower that paints red.” It belongs to the Mezcala culture.
Location
This archaeological zone is located in the mountainous and semi-arid region of the center of the state of Guerrero. It is arranged in seven levels where three squares, six patios and numerous structures are located. In addition to meeting ceremonial, civil and commercial functions it was inhabited mainly between 650 and 900 / 1000 d. C. To get to La Organera-Xochipala from Mexico City, take the highway that goes to Iguala and continue along federal highway 95, Mexico- Acapulco .
History
This archaeological zone was known and reported at the end of the 19th century by William Niven , a Scottish mine explorer who traveled much of the Guerrero soil and became so interested in the “ruins” that he carried out numerous excavations and recovered several hundred objects, among them the small schematic stone sculptures that several decades later would be known as Mezcala style. Thanks to his breadth of vision, his knowledge of rocks and minerals, his notes, his drawings and photographs, this unique character left the first valuable work for the knowledge of the archeology of Guerrero.
Description of the city
In the foreground there is a large partially explored area, in which the Ball Game, the North Plaza and the Sunken Patios are located with their corridor covered with a false vault. In the central Plaza, the largest in the area, is located the White Palace, one of the most unique constructions, since it is a porticoed building raised on Tomb I, which is accessed through the lower plaza, and the Nail bed, which probably supported the main temple.
Further down is the Patio de los Palaces Porticoes, flanked by two small palatial structures and a portico. Above the patio there is a circular construction that was used to capture and distribute water . On the same level is the Plaza del Aljibe , with its square- shaped water storage tank. To the north it displaces Tomb I, which today can be entered through a looting hole made at the beginning of the 20th century . This tomb, covered with a false vault, measures 13.5 meters in length and is the largest in the area. To the south are the remains of what was once a great palace, the Mezcala Palace, so called because two schematic Mezcala-style figurines were excavated there.
In the Courtyard of the organ stands the Temple of Lights, the only basement that preserves part of a temple, both decorated with stone nails and partially destroyed by looting. The Patio of the Hidden Tomb was so named because there was located a small covered tomb with a false vault, which for technical reasons was buried again. To the east it is bordered by the Temple of the Sunset, a quadrangular basement placed on a platform with a wide staircase, in front of which remains of rooms dating from the late Postclassic are preserved.
In the South Patio is the burned Palace, in which the ajar of a collapsed flat roof was found on a large number of charred ears, since before being abandoned it was used as a granary. In the South Platform the small basement of the Temple of the shrine and part of a construction with a circular plan are located, whose function has not been discovered. Here another Mezcala-style figurine was excavated. Finally, in the extreme southeast of the area is the Housing Area in which they located evidence of rooms built with perishable materials and numerous superimposed stucco floors, as well as objects of Teotihuacan , Oaxacan and central Veracruz style .
On a local scale, La Organera-Xochipala was part of a system of settlements with masonry architecture, distributed over the mountainous edges that emerge from the Xochipala plateau, which together make up a “discontinuous city” of approximately 200 hectares . Its strategic disposition was due to the need to monitor and at the same time leave free the largest extension of arable land on the plateau, known as El Llano, since it surely constituted, and still constitutes, “the granary of the mountains”. On a regional scale, it is one of the most representative and well-researched areas of the Mezcala archaeological culture, whose vestiges have been located in an area of more than 22,000 square kilometers that includes the Tierra Caliente, the central and northern regions of Guerrero and the limits with Michoacán , the state of Mexico, Morelos and possibly Puebla
