13 July 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Archaeologists may have discovered lost settlement of Apancalecan in Mexico

Archaeologists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) in Guerrero discovered a prehistoric settlement spread across 29 hectares in the El Cerrito neighborhood of Tecpan de Galeana. This site may be the old Apancalecana settlement location, which was previously only mentioned in pre-Hispanic codices.

According to the INAH, after citizens were alerted about the presence of prehispanic vestiges archaeologists from its Center in Guerrero went to the site and registered 26 mounds, as altars and long structures in good condition, as well as residential areas and courts of ball game.

These sets are distributed peripherally to a large mound, whose base is 73.5 meters by 60 meters, and 25 meters high, with adjacent spaces, such as squares, where two smooth stelae, two rock outcrops with wells, and little.

Because the site is strategically located 850 meters from the eastern bank of the Tecpan River and one kilometer from the Laguna de Tetitlán, hollows were identified within this complex that is combined with the elongated structures, possibly associated with water storage and dams.

Photo: Government of Mexico

A study of the ceramic material recovered on the surface suggests that the site was first inhabited during the Classic period around AD 200 to 650.

Aerial photography taken by the speleologist Frédéric Henri Jean-Marc Bochet during the mapping process allowed the location of an altar with two twin stelae on top of the nearby Cerro del Mono, which is where the main mound of the recently discovered settlement is located.

When comparing the dimensions and proximity of the site with the town of Tecpan de Galeana and the toponymic glyph that appears in a petroglyph, with sources from the 16th century, Lobato Rodríguez suggests that it could correspond to the old main town of Apancalecan, referred to on Plate 18 of the Codex Matrícula de Tributos, which after the Spanish invasion became Tequepa, as recorded on a map by the cartographer Abraham Ortelius, from 1570.  However, the location of the settlement was lost until now.

Regarding the Nahua meaning of Apancalecan, the word is made up of apan (apantli, ditch water channel), calli (house), and can (locative), which is why it has been translated as “Place of the house with water channels”. The place name of this town is illustrated by a temple over which water runs with chalchihuites and snails, which coincides with the proposed translation according to the Nahua words taken from Remy Simeon’s dictionary.

INAH

Cover Photo: Photo: Ministry of Culture / Government of Mexico

Related Articles

Hundreds of skeletons found on Welsh beach

4 July 2021

4 July 2021

Archaeologists found the burial site of women and children just below the surface of the sand dunes on Whitesands Bay...

Bronze Age Ceremonial Sword Found in Håre in Vestfyn will be on Display Soon

13 March 2021

13 March 2021

Archaeologists excavating the village of Håre on the island of Funen in Denmark have discovered an ornate Bronze Age sword...

Ancient Curse Tablets Reveal Dark Spiritual Practices in the Roman Empire – and Their Echo in the Bible

17 June 2025

17 June 2025

New Research Connects Ritual Cursing to the Book of Revelation From jealous lovers to petty thieves, people in the ancient...

Farmer was Discovers 2600-year-old Stone Slab of Pharaoh Apries

19 June 2021

19 June 2021

The Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities announced that a farmer in Ismailia, Egypt, uncovered a 2,600-year-old stone monument erected by Pharaoh...

Evidence found of Goose domestication in Neolithic China 7,000 years ago

8 March 2022

8 March 2022

Geese may have been domesticated in what is now China as early as 7,000 years ago, according to a study...

The rich-poor distinction draws attention in the nutrition of the inhabitants of the Ancient City of Pergamon

27 November 2021

27 November 2021

The hegemony of wealth to the poor, arising from the ruler, elite structure, property ownership, unjust acquisition, and distribution of...

The ruins of a temple dedicated to Goddess Kubaba found for the first time in ancient city of Kastabala, southern Türkiye

17 December 2023

17 December 2023

Ruins of a temple belonging to the goddess Kubaba were found in the Ancient City of Kastabala. The ancient city...

Metal Scraps were Used İnstead of Money in Bronze Age Europe

8 May 2021

8 May 2021

Bronze scrap uncovered in hoards in Europe was used as currency, according to researchers from the Universities of Göttingen and...

Archaeologists have unearthed a stone chest containing the ritual deposit of 15 anthropomorphic figurines

1 September 2023

1 September 2023

Archaeologists have unearthed a stone chest containing the ritual deposit of 15 anthropomorphic figurines that were placed as votive offerings...

New study reveals the Milky Way’s hidden role in ancient Egyptian mythology

11 April 2024

11 April 2024

The ancient Egyptians were keen observers of the night sky. They incorporated their astronomical observations into their religion, mythology, and...

Centuries-Old Shipwrecks in Costa Rica Identified as Danish Slave Ships

5 May 2025

5 May 2025

Marine archaeologists have definitively identified two long-known shipwrecks off the coast of Cahuita National Park in Costa Rica as the...

Unique and very well-preserved prehistoric engravings found in southwestern Catalonia

23 March 2023

23 March 2023

Significant prehistoric rock art has been discovered in La Febro, in southwestern Catalonia. The team that discovered the art inside...

New Study Reveals Ancient Secrets of the 3,600-year-old Nebra Sky Disc

2 December 2024

2 December 2024

Discovered in 1999 in Germany, the Nebra Sky Disc is the oldest known depiction of the cosmos. A recent examination...

Earliest Multiplication Formulas Discovered in a 2,300-Year-Old Chinese Tomb

27 December 2023

27 December 2023

Archaeologists excavating a tomb in the Qinjiazui archaeological site of Jingzhou City, Hubei Province, China, have found the earliest multiplication...

A Mysterious Human Face Carved on Stone Dated to Bronze Age Discovered in Kazakhstan

21 July 2024

21 July 2024

Kazakhstan’s rich archaeological landscape continues to reveal fascinating details about ancient civilizations. Recent research in the Akmola, and Pavlodar revealed...