Ihuatzio is an archaeological site in Michoacán state, Mexico. It is at the southern slopes of , just north of the Ihuatzio town, in the Tzintzuntzan municipality.
The ancient site is some 7 kilometers south-east of Tzintzuntzan, on the south-eastern shore of the Lake Pátzcuaro. Human settlements vestiges are registered from two different occupational periods; the first occurred between 900 and 1200 CE, corresponding to Nahuatl language-speaking groups; the second group corresponding to the maximum development reached by the Purépecha culture, between 1200 and 1530 CE.
This archaeological site was built on an artificially leveled plateau, and it is considered very important, for the Michoacán prehispanic history, it was an astronomical observatory and ceremonial center. Although it is relatively small, the pyramids dedicated to "Curicaueri" and "Xaratanga" are remarkable. A sculpture representing a chac-moolA chac-mool is a type of Prehispanic Mesoamerican stone statue, it depicts a human figure in a reclining position with the head up and turned to one side, holding a tray over the stomach. Chac-mool statues are found in or around temples in Toltec and other post-Classic central Mexican sites, and in post-Classic Maya civilization sites with heavy Toltec influence, such as Chichen Itza. (characteristic of the Toltec culture) was found; as well as a series of roads and walls surrounding the site.
The prehispanic settlement fully covers a low-lying plateau and kept a strategic location at the extreme west of the lake and other dominant sites as Tzintzuntzan.
On 29 July 2024, one of the pyramids was heavily damaged from the effects of an unusually intense rainstorm, exacerbated by structural weaknesses resulting from prior conditions of drought and high temperatures. Officials expressed that they would be attempting to restore the ancient monument to preserve the region's "cultural heritage".
Background According to the archaeological evidence, there has been human habitation within the territory of Michoacán state for at least 10,000 years. In prehispanic times there were a number of migration waves into the area including the Pirinda, Nahua, Huetamo, Colima, Purépecha and other peoples. There are sites of formal settlements from all Mesoamerican period. Important sites include El Opeño and those in Curutarán, Tepalcatepec Apatzingán, Zinapécuaro, and Coalcoman. The territory has been inhabited by the Nahuas, Otomis, Matlatzincas, Pirindas, and Tecos, as well as the Purépecha.
The main pre-Hispanic civilization of the state is that of the Purépecha, which was centered in the Lake Pátzcuaro area. Before the 13th century, both Nahua and Purépecha peoples were here, sustaining themselves by agriculture and fishing. The Purépecha are descendants of a late arrival of Chichimecas who came from the north. At Lake Pátzcuaro, they came upon people with similar cultures to their own but who were more technically and socially advanced. The formation of the Purépecha state began in the 13th century, when these people started their own dominion at Uayameo, today Santa Fe de la Laguna and becoming dominant over the entire Lake Pátzcuaro area by the 15th century. Conquest of neighboring tribes and territories occurred between 1401 and 1450, absorbing peoples with different cultures and languages into the empire. By the late 15th century, this state rivaled that of the Aztecs, expanding their territory over much of what is now Michoacán and into part of Colima, Nayarit, Querétaro, Guanajuato, Guerrero, and Jalisco. The Aztecs attempted to invade Purépecha but were repelled. This would later cause the Purépecha to deny the Aztecs aid in the defense of Tenochtitlan against the Spanish.
The history of Michoacán has been studied from archaeological remains and other historical resources, such as the literary work Relación de Michoacán written in 1542, and it is known that the first settlers of the state were several Chichimeca tribes which arrived in different epochs and consequently evolved differently.
The archaeological sites found in the state, have helped clarify the history of the birth and development of ethnic groups which provided the essence of the Michoacán culture, dating back to the formative or Preclassical period (1500 to 200 BCE), the classical (800 BCE to 800 CE), and Postclassical (800 to 1000 CE), among whose sites include El Opeño, Curutarán, la Villita, Tepalcatepec, Apatzingán, Zinapécuaro, Coalcomán, San Felipe de los Alzati, Tzintzuntzan, Tingambato, Pátzcuaro, Zacapu, Uruapan, Tzitzio, and many others.
The territory of Michoacán was inhabited by the Purépecha people, who developed as a dominant culture, imposing their economic, religious, military, and cultural hegemony on other ethnic groups who also inhabited the region, such as the Nahua, Otomi, Matlatzincas or Pirindas, and Tecos. In the region, in addition to the Tarascan or Purépecha language, Coacomeca, Xilotlazinca, Colimote, Pirinda, Mazahua, Sayulteco, Nahuatl, and Teca were spoken.
The area has been inhabited at least since the early Pre-classic period. Early lithic evidence from before 2500 BCE like fluted points and stone utensils are found at some Megafauna kill sites. The earliest radio-carbon dates of archaeological sites fall around 1200 BCE. The best known early preclassical culture of Michoacán was the Chupicuaro culture. Chupícuaro sites are mostly found on lake islands which can be seen as a sign of it having traits relating it to the later Tarascan cultural patterns. In the early Classical period, ballcourts and other artifacts demonstrate a Teotihuacan influence in the Michoacán region.
In Michoacán there are over 45 known archaeological sites although only seven are open to the public, among these are Tzintzuntzan, Ihuatzio and Tingambato, which represent the rich Purépecha culture, although it is known that remains of previous cultures are hidden under the bases of these and other ceremonial centers.
The Purépecha people dominated a large territory that included areas within the modern-day states of Michoacán, Guanajuato, Querétaro, part of Jalisco, and Guerrero. They were an indomitable race that resisted the onslaught of the Aztecs, who could never dominate them, but who, due to their astronomical predictions, voluntarily submitted to the Spanish dominion, willingly converting to Christianity.
Toponymy The Ihuatzio name comes from the Purépecha language word Hihuatsi, which means "Coyotes Place".
From information in the Relación de Michoacan,Jerónimo de Alcalá, 1542, Relación de Michoacán, Moisés Franco Mendoza (coord.), paleografía Clotilde Martínez Ibáñez y Carmen Molina Ruiz, México, El Colegio de Michoacán, Gobierno del Estado de Michoacán, 2000, p.321. the place is also known by its Nahuatl name as Cuyacan or Cuyuacan (Coyoacan), and it is first mentioned when Tariácuri plans his attack on Tariaran.
Lake Patzcuaro Lake Pátzcuaro lies in an endorheic basin, which does not drain to the sea. Lake Pátzcuaro basin is of volcanic origin. At times it has been part of an open and continuous hydrological system formed by Lake Cuitzeo, Pátzcuaro and Lake Zirahuén, which drained into the Lerma River. Today, like lakes Cuitzeo and Zirahuén, it is a closed basin, although ecologists consider it a sub-basin of the Lerma-Chapala basin.
The Lake Pátzcuaro basin is home to the Purépecha people. Purépecha leaders established the basin as the heartland of the Tarascan state, which rivaled the Aztec Empire before the Spanish conquest. The towns of Ihuatzio, Tzintzuntzan, and Pátzcuaro were important Tarascan centers.
Purépecha language
The Purépecha language is a language isolate, not known to be related to any other language. It is spoken in the State of Michoacán, near Lake Pátzcuaro and the Parícutin volcano. There are two major variants and perhaps 12 minors; the main language stream occurs between the lake and the volcanic plateau. Speakers easily identify others origin from their speech, and even the village of origin. They are proud to continue speaking their native language, even if they live elsewhere. However, dialectal differences are relatively recent, and speakers consider all variants as part of the same language.
Theories about the Purépecha origin vary. Some say that they came from the north with the Aztecs; others claim they came from the south and perhaps related to the QuechuaQuechua is a Native South American language family and dialect cluster spoken primarily in the Andes of South America, derived from an original common ancestor language, Proto-Quechua. It is the most widely spoken language family of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, with a total of probably some 6 to 8 million speakers (estimates vary widely). Some speakers of Quechua also call it 'runa simi' (or regional variants thereof), literally 'people speech', although 'runa' here has the more specific sense of indigenous Andean people. from Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru. While their language is isolated, it shares some features with the ZuniZuni (also Zuñi) is a language of the Zuni people, indigenous to western New Mexico and eastern Arizona in the United States. It is spoken by around 9,500 people worldwide, especially in the vicinity of Zuni Pueblo, New Mexico, and much smaller numbers in parts of Arizona. and quechua (perhaps not more than borrowed features).
Greenberg assigned it to the Chibchan language family, but this proposal was rejected by specialists.Greenberg 1987 Statistical studies by Swadesh have suggested relationships to Zuñi, Quechua, Mayan and Aymara, but these conclusions remain unproven.
Tarascan State
The Tarascan state was a prehispanic Mesoamerican empire, roughly covering the geographic area of the present-day Mexican state of Michoacán. In Purépecha, language of the Purépecha, the name of the state was Iréchecua Tzintzuntzáni, the "lands of Tzintzuntzan".
The Purépecha were a nomadic group that arrived in the basin of Lake Pátzcuaro. Their place of origin is unknown; however, it is known that their food and livelihood depended on their hunter-gatherer activities. The main events of society tarascan are described in the aforementioned Relacion de Michoacan; this 16th-century document mentions the Tarascan arrival at Zacapú, "Naranja de Tapia", where they established alliances through the marriage of Ireti-Ticátame ("guide and lord"), with a local woman. Later, they were forced to leave and headed towards the Patzcuaro Basin.
The people of the Tarascan empire were mostly of Purépecha ethnic affiliation but also included other earlier ethnic groups such as the Nahua, Otomi, Matlatzinca and Chichimec. These ethnic groups were gradually assimilated into the Purépecha majority group.
The Tarascan state was contemporary with and an enemy of the Aztec Empire, against which it fought many wars. The Tarascan Empire blocked Aztec expansion to the northwest, and the Tarascans fortified and patrolled their frontiers with the Aztecs, possibly developing the first truly territorial state of Mesoamerica.
Due to its relative isolation within Mesoamerica, the Tarascan state had many cultural traits completely distinct from those of the Mesoamerican cultural group. It is particularly noteworthy for being among the few Mesoamerican civilizations to use metal for tools and ornamentation.
In the late Mesoamerican classical period, at least two non Purépecha ethnic groups lived around Lake Pátzcuaro: Nahuatl speakers in Jarácuaro, and some Chichimecan cultures on the northern banks, with the Nahua population being the second largest.
First occupation