2015-03 Mar - Guachimontones

Mound three

At only an hour outside of Guadalajara, Guachimontones sounded like the perfect day trip to visit old ruins in Mexico. It was also a chance to practice driving outside of the city. While there is probably a bus that runs to the town below, Guachimontones is still another taxi ride through the small town streets and winding, cobbled road up to the archaeological site. Entrance to the site and parking are all included in the 30 pesos/person fee.

Mound three and tomb/temple foundations

 The site itself boasts a small museum near the parking lot. This is where I started. While the museum exhibits didn't present a wealth of information, there was a film about Guachimontones showing in the auditorium; and, it was in English! One of the docents even tracked me down in the museum to make sure that I would get to see the English version. Hopefully, I have remembered enough interesting facts below.

Mound two.

Guachimontones is a a collection of "montones" or mounds. Located up the hill from the town of Teuchitlan, it is easy to see why the inhabits lived here. It is an idyllic spot ringed by mountains and overlooking a peaceful laguna below. The museum film talked about the extensive obsidian deposits due to nearby Tequila Volcano. At the time of the city's inhabitation, obsidian was used for weapons, tools and even jewelry. Another key facet of the location is the laguna below. The inhabits farmed "chiampas" or floating gardens within the laguna.

Overlooking mound two from mound one

Three circular mounds, various platforms for tombs and houses and two ball courts have been excavated thus far. Mound three is quite short, sporting only four concentric circles, while mound two rises perfectly groomed with 13 steps plus another four on top. Both mound two and three are roped off to visitors. However, mound one, which is purportedly the largest but also in shambles, is open for climbing and provides a wonderful view of the other mounds, mountains, town and laguna below.

View from ruins on the outskirts of mound one.

The small platforms around the mound once held small houses as tombs. There are other platforms that held houses. At the time, both were made of bundles of reeds that were then coated with a mud mixture. There were lots of trucks overflowing with reeds on my way to and from Teuchitlan today. I wonder if those were the same type used over 2000 years ago in Guachimontones?

Ball court

The ball courts were long rectangles with a wider section at each end. Much like the serif capital letter "I". There were no ring hoops for the participants to get a ball through. Instead, the participants had to get the ball into their opponents side. The ball could only be touched with the hips. According to the video, the ball courts were used as our court system is today: to settle disputes. It could have definitely save your life to be athletic.

Ball court on the left. Mound two on the right.