Discovery of Ancient Ceremonial Complex with Mysterious Rock Carvings in Guerrero, Mexico

Archaeologists in southern Mexico have uncovered an ancient hilltop ceremonial center where enigmatic rock carvings and monumental platforms reveal centuries of ritual activity tied to the sun, water, and fertility.

The site, known locally as Piedra Letra and hidden for centuries in the rugged hills of Guerrero’s Costa Chica region, was recently investigated by specialists from Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH). Their findings suggest that the sanctuary, used for nearly 800 years, was a vital spiritual hub for the Amuzgo and Mixtec peoples, where ceremonies sought rain, honored the solar calendar, and reinforced agricultural cycles.

Rediscovering a Hidden Center of Worship

The Piedra Letra complex was recorded by INAH specialists Cuauhtémoc Reyes Álvarez and Miguel Pérez Negrete as part of a cultural heritage survey linked to the Plan of Justice and Development for the Amuzgo People. Local officials had alerted researchers to the presence of little-known vestiges scattered across the municipality, prompting a systematic reconnaissance of six communities: Huehuetónoc, Limón Guadalupe, Jicayán de Tovar, Santiago Yoloxóchitl, San Cristóbal, and Guadalupe Mano de León.

During their survey, archaeologists identified 11 pre-Hispanic sites featuring surface ceramics, rock art, and architectural remains. The most striking was Piedra Letra, where an expansive platform, two main bases, and smaller structures surround a rocky outcrop covered with petroglyphs. These carvings, dating from the Epiclassic–Early Postclassic period (AD 650–1150) to the Late Postclassic (AD 1150–1521), suggest the hilltop sanctuary remained in use for nearly eight centuries.

Petroglyphs of Time, Water, and the Cosmos

The motifs at Piedra Letra are rich with symbolism. Early carvings depict spirals, circular beads believed to mark cycles of time, water drops, and even a schematic ballcourt. Figures include a person wearing a feathered headdress and circular chest ornament, alongside the profile of a jaguar decorated with dotted spots.

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The INAH in Guerrero studies Piedra Letra, a ceremonial complex on the Tlacoachistlahuaca hill, in the Amuzga area.

September 25, 2025

It has bases, structures and a series of petroglyphs.

It is a little-known archaeological site; it is considered to have been a site of worship of water and the sun.

In total, eleven pre-Hispanic sites on the Costa Chica were inspected.

Piedra Letra, an ancient ceremonial center possibly used for water and sun worship, located in Tlacoachistlahuaca, a municipality on the Costa Chica coast of Guerrero, was registered by the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), an agency of the Ministry of Culture of the Government of Mexico. This is a little-known archaeological site, despite its importance as a space for coexistence between Amuzgo, Mixtec, and extinct Ayacatecan groups.

Six communities in the municipality – Huehuetónoc (where Piedra Letra is located), Limón Guadalupe, Jicayán de Tovar, Santiago Yoloxóchitl, San Cristóbal and Guadalupe Mano de León – were inspected by archaeologists Cuauhtémoc Reyes Álvarez and Miguel Pérez Negrete, from the INAH Guerrero Center, who recognized eleven pre-Hispanic sites, where surface ceramics, rock art and architectural structures are observed.

The surface tour arose from the "Culture and Identity" working group, within the framework of the Amuzgo People's Justice and Development Plan agreements. During this meeting, the mayor of Tlacoachistlahuaca, Emmanuel Cuevas Rodríguez, informed the INAH Guerrero Center about the existence of the remains.

For INAH specialists it was a unique opportunity, since some of the cultural characteristics of Tlacoachistlahuaca, in the Amuzga language Sei' Chue ("plain of the tlachuaches&quot , are only known through historical sources, such as Geographic Relations of the 16th century .

According to Reyes Álvarez, "although Guerrero's Costa Chica has been explored by researchers since the 1960s, the region lacks an extensive record of its archaeological sites, which is the first step toward its research, protection, and conservation."

A cultural melting pot

Today, the region remains a cultural melting pot, with Amuzgo groups concentrated in Tlacoachistlahuaca and Huehuetónoc, and Mixtec groups in the northern part, such as Limón Guadalupe and Santiago Yoloxóchitl. There are also links with Nahuas, descendants of the shepherds of the flying farms, in El Carmen, in the municipality of Xochistlahuaca.

Its territory includes mountainous formations of the Southern Coastal Range and small valleys. On top of a hill near Huehuetónoc is Piedra Letra, a ceremonial site that, for eight centuries, served as a place of worship for water and the sun, as can be inferred from the motifs on several petroglyphs.

At the top there is a wide platform, with two bases and other smaller structures, associated with a rocky outcrop that was used to capture the petroglyphs, which date from the Epiclassic-Early Postclassic (650-1150 AD) and Late Postclassic (1150-1521 AD) periods.

The earliest rock art motifs allude to spirals, circular beads for keeping time, drops, a model of a ball court, a figure with a circular breastplate and feather headdress, and the profile of a jaguar, whose trunk is decorated with dots, resembling spots.

Another motif on Piedra Letra is a sun with a face, which is estimated, due to its manufacturing technique, to belong to the Late Postclassic, reinforcing the idea that ceremonies related to the solar calendar and the agricultural cycle, the request for rain and the fertility of crops, were held on the hilltop.

The archaeological survey also highlights the record of a couple of sites with monumental architecture. At the first, San Cristóbal, in addition to mounds, smooth granite stelae—up to 2 meters high—and stones engraved with spirals and circles are observed. At the second, Guadalupe Mano de León, a platform with remains of walls and a stone axe were found.

Archaeologists report that the petroglyphs and other motifs found on building blocks are the earliest known rock art elements from the municipality. Therefore, to enhance Tlacoachistlahuaca's graphic identity, they will be incorporated into an iconographic catalog.

Archaeologist Pérez Negrete concludes that "this approach to Tlacoachistlahuaca will allow us to delve into the origins of the Amuzga nation, a topic rooted in the memory of the people through narratives that are often contradictory to each other. Therefore, it is necessary to have hard data from archaeology to provide information on the subject."

https://hojaderutadigital.mx/el-inah-en-guerrero-estudia-piedra-letra-conjunto-ceremonial-en-cerro-de-tlacoachistlahuaca-en-la-zona-amuzga/