The spectacular Guachimontones, or circular pyramids, near Teuchitlan probably mark the “capital” of a sophisticated civilization that dominated western Mexico 2,000 years ago.
If you’d like to visit the site – only a 50-minute drive west of Guadalajara – with an English-speaking guide, call the Phil Weigand Interpretive Center (384-109-0388, cell) ahead of time to make arrangements. Just in case things don’t work out, tour guide Jonathan Alvarez kindly helped me prepare the following notes for a self-guided visit to Guachimontones’ six “stations.” (The route is also on Wikiloc.com under “Guachi 1 Tour” and you can follow it on your smart phone if you have the Wikiloc app.)
The stations mentioned below are shown on the accompanying map. The round-trip walk, starting from the parking lot, is 1.7 kilometers with an elevation gain of 98 meters. Bring plenty of drinking water!
Station 1. On the cobblestone road, 240 meters above the parking area.
When you reach this point on your walk up the steep road to the Guachimontones, you’ll probably be happy to stop and catch your breath. Below you, to the southwest, lies the modern town of Teuchitlán, which few people realize is just as old as Guadalajara. Both, in fact, have existed for over 470 years. You should easily be able to spot the tower of the church dating back to the 17th century and dedicated to the Señor de la Ascensión (Lord of the Ascension). The mountains in the distance belong to the Sierra de Ameca, which limits the valley to the southwest.
Station 2. Entrance to the Guachimontones (Registration Book).
You are standing in front of Guachimontón Number Two, called La Iguana. This was a ceremonial center where people used to come for rituals. We know about some of these rituals thanks to clay models found in this area showing people gathered around the circular pyramids, engaging in various activities. One of these is the ceremony of the Volador or Flyer. For this, a priest would climb a tall pole set at the very top of the mound. He wore a feathered headdress called a penacho, as well as feathers on his arms and feet, suggesting he was going to fly like a bird.
The priest would then lie on his stomach, balancing himself on the very top of the pole, perhaps playing the role of the main god of this culture – Ehécatl, god of the wind. Meanwhile, hundreds of people would be chain dancing around the mound, with men and women alternating. Musicians would often play in center of the circle and sometimes dancing took place around a huge bonfire.
Station 3. Next to Pyramid Three, overlooking Lake La Vega
Below, to the southwest, we can see Lake La Vega, which today may look rather small (9.5 kilometers long), but was much larger at the height of the Teuchitlán Tradition, stretching all the way to Magdalena, 30 kilometers away. On the shores of this big lake, they practiced an ingenious system of irrigation using chinampas, small rectangular plots of land irrigated by narrow canals crisscrossing them, similar to what the Spaniards saw in Tenochtitlan (Mexico City), when they arrived there.
This clever system allowed water to reach crops not from above, but from below, carrying nutrients to the roots. Because of the chinampas system, those ancient farmers didn’t depend on the rainy season for growing food. They could have two or even three crops per year. Here they grew chiles, beans, pumpkins, sunflowers and amaranth, today considered a “superfood.”
Station 4. The Ball Court
This court is shaped like a capital I and measures 111 meters long. It was the biggest in Mexico up until 100 A.D. Later the Mayans came along with longer courts.
There is evidence that most Mexican cultures had ball courts. In central Mexico they followed different rules from those used in western Mexico where, even today, a form of the game called Ulama is still played. Their ball was solid, made of crude rubber and the size of a modern volleyball. It weighed about three kilos (seven pounds). The players could only touch it or hit it with their hips. Simply picking up the ball with hips alone required the coordinated efforts of two people. Just try it some time! Examination of skeletons indicates that broken hips were the norm for men of the Teuchitlán nation.
A team consisted of eight players with a captain. The aim was to get the ball to one of the ends of the court. If a player could trap the ball between his hip and the wall at the far end, it was a point for his team and one point less for the opposition.
Sometimes this game was played as a religious ritual and would last from sunrise to sunset. It was also played to settle disputes. The players believed the gods would see to it that whoever was telling the truth or was in the right would come out as the winner.
Station 5. The Square Altar
Some archaeologists suggest that this rectangle in the middle of a circle is evidence of a cultural change within the Teuchitlán Tradition. That is, it indicates the influence of certain ideas filtering in from neighboring areas and the beginning of a better connection with the cultures in the center of Mexico, especially with the Toltecs.
This can be seen more clearly in the village of Oconahua, located 33 kilometers (20 miles) west of Teuchitlán, where a huge, rectangular, u-shaped building has been excavated. This was called a tecpan, a palace for a great prince or king, and it was designed just like the palace of Moctezuma that now lies buried beneath the main square of Mexico City.
Station 6. The Circle of the Dead
This is the only altar in the area where shaft tombs have been found. Many pots and figurines have been discovered here, yielding considerable information about this method of burying the dead.
A shaft tomb is a circular pit that could be up to 20-some meters deep, with one or more burial chambers off to the side at the bottom. A tomb found at San Juan de los Arcos is 22 meters (72 feet) deep, with five chambers, but, unfortunately, this and almost all shaft tombs have been found empty, looted by thieves.
The big exception was the Huitzilapa tomb near Magdalena, which was found perfectly intact in 1993. It was eight meters deep, with two chambers at the bottom. Inside were six skeletons and 67,000 offerings. Apparently the depth of the tomb and the number of chambers was a measure of the importance or wealth of the person or persons buried there. Sadly, the Huitzilapa tomb was later destroyed, bulldozed by agave farmers.
How to get there
The Guachimontones are located 1.2 kilometers northeast of the town of Teuchitlán. You can get there from Guadalajara by taking Highway 15 west (toward Nogales) for 25 kilometers and turning left onto Highway 70 heading southwest towards Ameca. After 17 kilometers you’ll pass the large sugar refinery at Tala. One and a half kilometers later, turn right onto a road signposted Ahualulco. After 12.7 kilometers you’ll come to the Teuchitlán gas station (N20.68099 W103.84801), where you turn right and drive into town. Immediately after the plaza, turn right and take the second left, heading north. After 1.3 kilometers you will come to the parking area (N20.69318 W103.84066) for the Guachimontones.
The Guachimontones are open Tuesdays to Sundays, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The entrance fee is 30 pesos, but there is no charge for children under 12. On Tuesdays everyone gets in free.