GUERRERO.- Archaeologists working in the Costa Grande region of Guerrero have documented two settlements that remained inhabited for decades after the Spanish conquest, offering new evidence about how Indigenous communities navigated the turbulent transition from the pre-Hispanic world to colonial rule.
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The sites, identified as Camutla and Sacualpan, are mentioned in 16th-century historical sources and appear to have survived until the closing decades of that century. Their archaeological remains may help researchers better understand how communities in western Guerrero reorganized, adapted, and ultimately disappeared during the first generations of Spanish colonization.
The discoveries were made by specialists from Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) during an inspection connected to infrastructure projects included in the Michoacán Plan for Peace and Justice.
The survey was carried out ahead of a proposed expansion of the Pátzcuaro–Lázaro Cárdenas highway in the municipality of La Unión de Isidoro Montes de Oca. From March 25 to 30, 2026, archaeologists conducted ground surveys and aerial reconnaissance using a drone to identify cultural remains near the planned route and establish measures for their protection.
Mexico’s secretary of culture, Claudia Curiel de Icaza, said the findings demonstrate why heritage protection must be incorporated into public works planning from the beginning.
“INAH’s involvement makes it possible to prevent damage and, at the same time, recover information about communities that experienced the transition between the pre-Hispanic world and the colonial period,” she said. “Developing infrastructure and preserving our history are responsibilities that must advance together.”
A settlement overlooking the La Unión River
One of the newly documented sites lies near the community of El Chico, also known as Capire, on a low hill overlooking the western bank of the La Unión River, close to its mouth on the Pacific coast.
Archaeologists recorded 39 structures spread across roughly eight hectares. Oral traditions indicate that the area was once known as Camutla, a name that also appears in colonial-era documents and maps.
The settlement was occupied from the Late Postclassic period, between approximately AD 1200 and 1521, into the Early Colonial period, between 1521 and 1600.
Its architecture includes a series of terraces rising from south to north, while those near the summit are arranged from east to west. Researchers identified altars, elongated platforms, retaining walls built into the slopes, and stone alignments that may have formed part of residential compounds.
They also found civic and ceremonial areas organized around plazas. Several small, undecorated stone stelae were recorded there, some of which remain standing.
The region was a complex cultural frontier before the arrival of the Spanish. It was inhabited by the Tolimeca and Chumbia peoples and bordered territories associated with the Panteca and Cuitlateca. The area also came under the influence or control of both the Aztec Triple Alliance and the Purépecha Empire.
According to INAH, this history may explain why settlement patterns in this part of Guerrero differ from those found elsewhere along the Costa Grande.
Researchers compared their field observations with 16th-century sources, including the Relaciones Geográficas and the Ortelius map. Both place a town called Camutla along the lower course of the La Unión River, matching the location and traditional name of the archaeological site.
Sacualpan emerges from an older archaeological record
The second settlement had previously been registered under the name Los Ticuiches. After reviewing its location, architecture, and historical references, researchers concluded that it likely corresponds to the Tolimeca town of Sacualpa.
Its principal feature is a large platform measuring approximately 160 meters long and 110 meters wide. A second elongated structure, about 140 meters long and 40 meters wide, joins it to form an L-shaped complex.
Scattered residential mounds surround the monumental structures, along with concentrations of heavily eroded red pottery.
The identification of Camutla and Sacualpan gives archaeologists a clearer picture of communities that survived the conquest but were later abandoned. INAH specialists believe several factors may have contributed to their disappearance, particularly the forced reorganization of Indigenous populations and the heavy tribute demands imposed by the colonial system of New Spain.
More sites placed under protection
The archaeological team also inspected the sites of La Parotita, El Huérfano, La Palanca, Los Metates, La Salada, Las Peñas, Las Arañas, La Parotita II, Zorcua, and Los Azufres.
Many contain evidence of mounds built on low hills. Four sites—Las Arañas, La Parotita II, Zorcua, and Los Azufres—were considered especially vulnerable because of their proximity to the proposed highway route.
INAH has begun working with the municipal government to establish precautionary protection zones and conservation measures.
Rodolfo Lobato Rodríguez, the archaeologist from the INAH Guerrero Center who led the inspection, said identifying and protecting archaeological heritage is particularly important when infrastructure projects may place cultural remains at risk.
He added that the research also offers rare information about peoples whose distinct ethnic identities eventually disappeared from the historical record.
Miguel Pérez Negrete, who helped coordinate the inspection through the INAH Guerrero Center’s Single-Window Service, said the surveys will provide officials with better evidence for decisions involving heritage management and conservation.
The work also depended on the participation of municipal authorities and local residents, including Mayor José Suazo Espino, municipal secretary Adolfo Villanueva, public safety director Antonio Campos Rendón, and community member Arturo Abarca.
For INAH, that collaboration underscores a central lesson of the project: archaeological preservation is most effective when government institutions, researchers, and local communities work together to protect the physical traces of a shared past.
