The INAH locates a well-preserved city on Guerrero's Costa Chica

From the Editorial Staff

La Jornada Newspaper, Saturday, October 18, 2025, p. 5

Experts from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) recorded the Paso Temprano or Corral de Piedra site, a 1,200-year-old city that stands out for its high degree of conservation in the community of El Carmen, municipality of Xochistlahuaca, on the Costa Chica of Guerrero.

"In the coming years, their study could define a local archaeological culture that flourished between the Epiclassic and Early Postclassic periods," said archaeologist Miguel Pérez Negrete, who, along with Cuauhtémoc Reyes Álvarez, also affiliated with the INAH Center in the state, has conducted the inspection work.

He explained that the remains have been known for decades by the Nahuatl inhabitants of the area, who call the site Corral de Piedra or Ancient City. However, it is known that Amuzga and Mixtec populations occupied the area at the end of the pre-Hispanic era. Despite this, he says, more research is needed to determine who lived there.

The investigations will determine what they were seeking to protect themselves from, as the site was built in a strategic position, taking advantage of ridges and cliffs for defensive purposes, to which its pre-Columbian occupants added a wall.

The INAH explained that the remains are the remnants of a settlement more than 1.2 kilometers long, which had a stratified society, as evidenced by residential buildings at lower altitudes and palatial areas at higher elevations.

“At the summit is the extensive defensive sector delimited by a wall. From this point, passages bordered by gorges, checkpoints, and narrow corridors are common until reaching the ceremonial sector, which houses an I-shaped ball court. It is 49 meters long by 8 meters wide and has natural promontories at both ends of the forecourts, which were partially lined with stone walls,” Pérez explained.

He emphasized the area's state of conservation: "It's as if centuries hadn't passed. You can see what the homes, hallways, and the layout of spaces were like." The challenge, he concluded, "is to establish strategies to preserve it."

Meanwhile, the INAH emphasized that the work is supported by municipal commissioner Noé Salazar Maceda; deputy commissioner Roberto Guerrero González; director of the Xochistlahuaca Community Museum Cecilio Antonio Nieves; and local professor Domingo Torres Aparicio.