Ixtlán del Rio (archaeological site)

Shaft Tomb Tradition Culture – Archaeological Site
Ixtlán del Río Round Structure
Name:	Ixtlán del Río Archaeological Site
Type	Mesoamerican archaeology
Location	Ixtlán del Rio, Nayarit  Mexico
Region	Mesoamerica
Coordinates	21°02′23″N 104°20′41″W / 21.03972°N 104.34472°W / 21.03972; -104.34472Coordinates: 21°02′23″N 104°20′41″W / 21.03972°N 104.34472°W / 21.03972; -104.34472
Culture	Aztatlán Tradition - Nahua
Language	Nahuatl
Chronology	300 BCE to 1521 CE
Period	Mesoamerican Preclassical, Classical, Postclassical
Apogee	750 – 1100 CE
INAH Web Page	Ixtlán del Río Archaeological site (Spanish)

Ixtlán del Rio is an archaeological site located in the Ixtlán del Rio municipality, on the south west region of the Nayarit State, Mexico. It is also known as “Los Toriles” and contains the only vestiges of the western cultures in Nayarit.

The presence of prehispanic vestiges in the form of petroglyphs are registered in five areas, the most important are “El Terrero”, “Sayulapa” and “El Veladero”, which depict sgraffiti lines and representations of abstract figures, such as spirals with rays.

Of the traditional Shaft Tombs, five large concentration areas are identified, containing human bone remains; domestic pottery ollas, comales and cantaros (pitchers)]; as well as sculpture type remains (human and animal figures).

In remote times in which early American settlers crossed the Behring Strait, several sedentary groups migrated south. The territory of present-day Nayarit State has manifestations of those settlers, chronologically and consecutively located in three cultural periods: Los Concheros, the shaft tomb tradition and the Aztatlán tradition.

Los concheros (“concha” = shell), is a name given to groups dedicated to the sea exploitation of the ocean shores, and in the process developed the first settlements, with sea shells. According to archaeologist Gabriela Zepeda, the Matanchén and San Blas coves, it was in the Nayarit shores where history commenced in these lands. From about 2000 BCE up to 1500 CE, an amazing occupation persisted by a culture that perceived the sea as merciful and stormy God. It was also the origin of artistic ceramic modeling and cooking.

On the traditional shaft tomb tradition, five major areas of concentration were identified, containing bones; ceramics for domestic use (pots, comales and pitchers); and remains of sculptural type (human and animal figures).

The Shaft Tomb Tradition (500 BCE - 500 CE) constitutes a peculiar feature of mesoamerican prehispanic development in México, although there are analog burials forms elsewhere in the continent. Shaft Tombs thus far discovered in the Nayarit territory, were found and excavated outside of the settlement sites of that epoch, in vertical shafts (Wells), with one or two chambers where their dead were placed together with human and animal sculptures, also with large vessels that contained funerary offerings, these reflect the development achieved by this tradition, with the particular regional characteristics found.

The Western Mexico shaft tomb tradition or shaft tomb culture refers to a set of interlocked cultural traits found in the western Mexican states of Jalisco, Nayarit, and, to a lesser extent, Colima to the south, roughly dating to the period between 300 BCE and 400 CE, although there are disagreements on this end-date. Nearly all of the artifacts associated with this shaft tomb tradition have been discovered by looters and are without provenance, making dating problematic. The first major undisturbed shaft tomb associated with the tradition was not discovered but until 1993, at Huitzilapa, Jalisco.