Chiapa de Corzo’s Archaeological Zone

Its function as a small agricultural village began around 1400 B.C., but, it became a large ceremonial center between the years of 850 and 450 B.C.; in the era that followed (450 B.C. - 250 A.D.) the constructive activity grew. The archaeological findings have proven their contact with foreign regions, such as the Olmeca zone of the Gulf coast or the highlands of Guatemala. Here, written in dots and bars, was the finding of a fragment of a shooting stone in 36 B.C., the oldest registered date of a finding until today, in mesoamerica. The importance of this center dropped slowly, until it was abandoned towards the year 700 A.D., maybe as a consequence of the Teotihuacan presence in the center of Chiapas. Its inhabitants belonged, it seems, to the Zoque ethnic group.
Although extensive, only a small part of the site is exposed. The principal nucleus is a series of platforms that form a square, and in whose surroundings the principal buildings rise; as well as hills 1 and 5. The first is a pyramid structure, whose remains, in the superior part, are the walls of a temple. Hill 5, due to its complexity, seems to have had residential functions. Hill 32, on the side of the highway, now appears separated from the principal nucleus. This is another pyramid structure, with a stairway in front, and flanked by double irrigation waterways, and on whose hilltop there are also ruins of a temple. Hill 26, situated on the land of a school, is a series of platforms which served as a burial place.

Transfer Time: 10 minutes by automobile.

Visiting Hours: Monday through Sunday from 9:00 to 17:00 hours.