La Sabana
Archeological site
La Sabana
One of the largest settlements of the Costa Chica. In its first stage it covered present-day Acapulco, and in the second it extended to the foothills of the Cerro de la Bola, where 38 splendid stone carvings have been found with figures of animals, calendar counts and images of Tlaloc.
The site is on the north side of the Cerro de la Bola in the ejido of La Sabana, municipality of Acapulco. This settlement forms part of another much larger one established on the lower and flatter land to the north. In addition to the ritual site with rock carvings now found in the section that is open to the public, it had many large structures which were lost as a result of urban growth in the 1960s. Its origins were in the Early Classic, around 400 AD, while its apogee was in the Epiclassic (600-900 AD) and the population dwindled into the Early Postclassic (900-1200) when the site was abandoned.
Acapulco and its surrounding area are especially rich in rock carvings. There are sites with petroglyphs along the coastal strip which runs from Revolcadero beach, passing through the bays of Puerto Marques and Santa Lucia towards Magueyitos beach, close to the Pie de la Cuesta. The glyphs indicate the importance of representing social, economic and religious activities by a variety of forms and means of expression, and they provide evidence of human presence from the third millennium BC. With its well protected bays and with opportunities for finding resources on the coastal plain at the foot of the hills, on the sea shore and at sea, the strategic location of Acapulco has served human settlement from very ancient times up to the present.
As with other parts of Acapulco and its surrounding area, La Sabana is a site with a wealth of rock carvings. The anthropomorphic, zoomorphic (both terrestrial and marine animals), calendar-based and abstract motifs were produced by carving and abrading the blocks of granite.
These graphic expressions provide information on the site and the calculation of time. There are very many rectangular and circular format calendar counts together with various points and lines. There is also a plethora of representations of the rain and monkey gods, the latter possibly spider monkeys which were present in the state of Guerrero in pre-Hispanic times. References to the animal world are enriched by serpents and fish, which lived alongside the pre-Hispanic settlers of Guerrero, as can be seen from the imagery carved into the rocks.
- Dirección del Centro INAHHéctor Romeo Torres Calderónhector_torres@inah.gob.mx+52 (747) 471 7121
Petrograbados
Petrogravure is one of the manifestations of the so-called rock art, that is, those vestiges of human activity that were painted or engraved on rock shelters.
Petrograbados
Petrogravure is one of the manifestations of the so-called rock art, that is, those vestiges of human activity that were painted or engraved on rock shelters. The studies of Rubén Manzanilla and Arturo Talavera conclude that in the petroglyphs and in the rock paintings, mythical, calendrical, propitiatory and astronomical events are related. The authors also suppose that the places where they are located were used as sacralized spaces to carry out ceremonies, leave offerings and for certain types of measurements or calendrical or astronomical readings.
The archaeologist Martha Cabrera, who reported in 1982 the discovery of the petroglyphs located in Guerrero, elaborated a detailed catalog of them, thanks to which she concluded that the designs engraved in these rocks were made through the technique of chiseling, predominating the geometric figures (circle, square, rectangle, wavy and straight lines), as well as the schematic representation of the human figure, especially the facial. Zoomorphic designs and some identified as representations of plants were also distinguished.
In the petroglyphs of La Sabana, we can observe a considerable decrease in the representation of human beings; an important presence of animals, which are considered to have been used to propitiate the productivity of the sea and the fertility of the land; and a manifest need to know the calendar, which is reflected in the dot and bar beads.
Reference:
Manzanilla López, Rubén and Arturo Talavera González, 2008, Las manifestaciones gráfico rupestres en los sitios arqueológicos de Acapulco, México, INAH.
Petrograbado 2
It consists of two concentric circles between which 20 dots and their corresponding 20 stripes were placed; a possible ornamental element was placed in the inner circle.
Petrograbado 3
Procession of seven characters with arms raised. The facial features are indicated with dots, and only the first character has his mouth traced with a horizontal line. The bodies are resolved with simple continuous lines.
Petrograbado 8
This engraving consists of three rectangles, with 7, 18 and 19 bars, and their respective points.
Petrograbado 10
Stylization of an ape in profile and standing, with its tail curled up and holding in one of its hands a kind of star. There are also two concentric circles with a dot in the center and surrounded by 12 dots and a stripe.
Petrograbado 10
Stylization of an ape in profile and standing, with its tail curled up and holding in one of its hands a kind of star. There are also two concentric circles with a dot in the center and surrounded by 12 dots and a stripe. Finally, there is the profile of a personage wearing an almost square headdress, from the lower part of which hangs a kind of beard.
