JAGUARS, EAGLES AND EVIL

When the jaguars and eagles and their evil priest ruled the rock that is now known as La Quemada, they demanded such large tributes of peyote from the Huicholes Indians that there wasn't enough left for the Gods of the Huicholes. Their Gods punished them by causing the corn to wither and the amount of salt, shells and feathers to diminish. They needed these goods for trade and for survival.
When the Huichol sent less to the jaguars and eagles, their emissaries were killed. The Huichol appealed to their Gods: "What can we do to bring back the peyote, the corn, the feathers, the salt and the shells?"
"There must be a ceremony with the five great singers of the valley to the east," the Gods said. Many Huicholes met at Teakata and went to the pillars where the five great singers were gathered. Each singer sang for four nights until the Gods told them to stop and go to the evil priest's great rock. The jaguars attacked them, and many people were killed. The Sun God intervened and burned the jaguars. The evil priest tried to turn day to night to stop the heat, but he failed. The heat lasted twenty days. All the jaguars died. The land dried. The corn wilted. The people left. The evil priest disappeared.
When the eagles came back, they tried to find the five great singers. For twenty days and twenty nights, they searched without success. The eagles went away. Now the corn returned to life. Now the Huicholes had salt, peyote, feathers, and shells. But the Gods told the singers, "Never go back to the great rock. Although the jaguars, eagles and their priest are gone, the evil remains."

It is commonly believed that this Huichol myth refers to the archeological site of La Quemada, about fifty-five miles south of Zacatecas, in central Mexico. There is conclusive evidence that the city met a finish that involved looting and fire. The modern name of "La Quemada" means the burned place. The pinnacle of the site is a rock, and at the lower level the remains of pillars have been found. In this Hall of Pillars or Columns many trophy skulls and hands were unearthed. It is known that in Mesoamerica there were jaguar warriors and eagle warriors. For ceremonial occasions and battles the warriors would have worn jaguar skins or feather capes and been more fearsome than their namesakes. Huicholes still live in the area. The myth and the facts seem to fit.
The site is located in the north central area of Mexico in the state of Zacatecas, about 15 miles from Jerez which is where we stayed. Approaching the ruins on a narrow two lane road along the valley floor, the hill of La Quemada makes it’s most dramatic appearance, rising 820 feet above the valley. Cliffs and hilltops are terraced or topped with platforms. It's easy, for a moment, to imagine vicious winged fantasy creatures swooping down from the pinnacle, though no claps of thunder are heard. No lightning rents the air. No feeling of foreboding lingers at the archeological site today. Perhaps the evil eroded along with the structures over the millennium that passed since the inhabitants abandoned the place. The site fell further into ruin after the Spanish arrived in the mid 16th century and began using it as a stone quarry. Many of the original structures were dismantled and the stones used for the construction of fences, bridges, cobblestone roads, and dwellings on nearby haciendas. Now the process is reversing itself. There is reconstruction - such as the pillars - and new construction - the visitor's center.
The visitor's center is an impressive aesthetic accomplishment, integrated in both form and material with the setting. The floors are of locally quarried marble. In one area, the marble slabs have been laid unevenly, imitating what happens over time to even the best stonework. Rain washes away the mud mortar beneath the corner of a slab, and the corner sinks. A seed arrives by bird or wind and sprouts between stones. As it grows, the roots work under the slabs and heave them up. The tilting marble ties the old and new together as does the theater that is inspired by the stepped pyramids and the great stairway. We sit, as if on those steps, watching the spectacle below. In this case, the spectacle is a movie overview of the archeology of Mesoamerica.
Carbon dating indicates this place has been occupied since 500 AD. Between 650 and 850 AD the city attained its maximum growth. It was at the height of its civilization at the same time as Teotihuacan, the famous pre-Columbian city outside modern Mexico City. La Quemada, along with other settlements, was part of a trade network with Teotihuacan. They traded salt, shells, feathers, and peyote. To this day, the peyote blossom is a common motif in the bead and embroidary work of the Huichol.
Topographical surveys have revealed more than a hundred miles of ancient roads radiating out in all directions. Vestiges of these roads are visible to those who climb to the high point of the rock. They are completely overgrown with vegetation and are not useable. They are more like a memory on the land.
We followed the trail ever upward to the top of the rock. Coming down, we walked along the top of the wall that flanks the north. Although it was the Easter holidays, the wall and the countryside it crosses were deserted.
There are signs that the wall was expanded between the years of 850 to 900 AD. Also, during that time, three of the main stairways that give access to the upper levels were partially blocked to restrict the passage of people. Both of these structural changes are interpreted as defensive measures. La Quemada was in decline. First the inhabitants of the areas near the site vanished. A generalized retreat and disintegration followed. By 900-950 AD the site was abandoned.
Although the myth of the jaguars, eagles and evil priest and the facts seem to fit, there isn't a firm consensus among scholars on that. On the contrary, because the north of Mexico is the least studied by archaeologists, the area has given rise to speculation without equal. La Quemada has been characterized by different schools of archeology in various and sometimes contradictory ways. At least one current Mexican guidebook, as well as a road map, refers to the site as the legendary city of Chicomostoc, but there isn't agreement on that either. Only a small amount of the archeological zone has been explored, so there are mysteries still to solve.

photos: one of the pillars & part of the wall, La Quemada, Mexico

This is a companion piece to BURNING JUDAS. Date of travel: 1997