This area is also known as Teuchitlán, because it is close to the municipal seat of the same name. Guachimontones was the first large population center in the West and began to develop around 1000 BC. In its initial phase it was characterized by the construction of “El opeño” style shaft tombs and it developed at the same time as the Mesoamerican groups.

This site extends across 20 hectares of buildings with two monumental ball courts and five external plazas. The site is surrounded by a group of residential complexes that is made up of 40 circular buildings with associated ball courts. There were three types of housing units: residential and ceremonial areas of the elite, residential areas intended for people of high status, and areas inhabited by those belonging to a lower status. Although the settlement pattern was dispersed with a ceremonial center as the nucleus, the distribution of the land and architecture shows elements of urbanism.