Alta Vista (Chalchihuites), Astronomical Implications of a Mesoamerican Ceremonial Outpost at the Tropic of Cancer

Abstract

We have empirically tested and evaluated several astronomically related hypotheses about the ruins of Alta Vista near the modern town of Chalchihuites, Zacatecas, in Northwest Mexico. We conclude that the site was deliberately located and oriented astronomically by people of the Teotihuacan civilization.As supporting evidence we analyze (a) a double solar alignment incorporating a labyrinthine hallway at the ruins, and (b) a pair of circle-shaped markers, of a type found at Teotihuacan, pecked into a flat stone on a hilltop to the south. The former can be correlated with an equinoctial sunrise observation and the latter with a summer solstice sunrise, each over the same distant peak. Furthermore, a detailed examination of the pecked petroglyphs reveals that they may have served as time-marking devices.

The Archaeology of Tula, Hidalgo, Mexico

“…The nature of these similarities and who had them first have been subject to debate among Mesoamerican archaeologists and art historians for more than a century. The debate has grown more complex with the discovery of colonnades, columned halls, and skull racks at sites in northern Mexico (Hers 1989;Kelley 1978;Nelson 1997) that may be older than those at either Tula or Chichén Itzá (Aveni et al 1982).…”

Recent Research in Western Mexican Archaeology

“…Rock art has seen increased study (Faba Zuleta 2001;Faugère 1997;Faugère and Darras 2002;Forcano 2000;Horcasitas and Miranda 2004;Murray and Viramontes 2006;Torreblanca Padilla 2000), and interpretation of imagery within the context of the broader landscape (Viramontes Anzures 2005a, b; Viramontes Anzures and Crespo 1999) should produce interesting results. Finally, the religious and ideological significance of archaeoastronomical orientations in Mesoamerica (following Aveni et al 1982) has led to preliminary research on this topic, largely using well-preserved architecture to evaluate different orientations toward the horizon (DuVall 2007;Juárez Cossío and Š prajc 2001;Kelley and Abbott Kelley 2000;Lelgemann 1997). Archaeoastronomy may be an overly narrow approach to how people viewed their surroundings; a landscape archaeological approach might provide further insights.…”

“…The complex political system centered in the Tequila Valleys of central Jalisco collapsed, and the use of guachimontón architecture and shaft-and-chamber tombs ceased throughout the western highlands (Beekman and Christensen 2003;Weigand 1990), even as multiple new political centers of various sizes emerged. The ceremonial center of Alta Vista was built in the Suchil Valley of Zacatecas, oriented toward astronomical observations at the Tropic of Cancer (Aveni et al 1982;Kelley 1971). Farther south in the Malpaso Valley, construction at the fortified hilltop center of La Quemada took place primarily in this period (Nelson 1997).…”

Food and status in the prehispanic Malpaso Valley, Zacatecas, Mexico

“…Previous research has advanced our knowledge of the character of the northern frontier cultures to show that the Malpaso Valley and many of its neighbors were not completely isolated from the rest of Mesoamerica (Aveni et al, 1982;Darling, 1998;Harbottle and Weigand, 1992;Jim enez Betts, 1992; Jim enez Betts and Darling, 1993Darling, , 2000Kelley, 1976;Kelley and Kelley, 1987;Nelson, 2002;Weigand and Harbottle, 1992). However, the Malpaso Valley social structure is different enough from other contemporary Mesoamerican social structures that Malpaso Valley residents should not be considered transplanted Mesoamericans, but people who adopted certain features of a pre-existing structure that probably originated elsewhere in Mesoamerica.…”