https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/stone-map-mexico-0013864
The ancient stone map dating back to 200 BC to 200 AD has been discovered in Colima, Mexico. Source: INAH
Archaeologists from the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia ( INAH) have confirmed the discovery of an ancient stone map carved into a volcanic rock in Colima, Mexico dating from between 200 BC and 200 AD. Carved on the face of a 1.7 meter-high (5.77 ft) basalt volcanic rock, that had been ejected from a prehistoric eruption at the Colima volcano some 14 kilometers (8.7 miles) away, the map’s small carved circular features show the position of ancient settlements. According to researchers, the map represents the territorial organization within a group of indigenous, Pre-Columbian, native settlements around Colima.
Staff from the INAH Colima Center inspecting the newly discovered Mexican stone map that predates the Chanal or Postclassic Colimense phase (1000–1500 AD) . (Image: Arqlgo. Rafael Platas Ruiz. INAH-Colima)
Ancient Mexican Map Stones and Why They Are Significant
Julio Ignacio Martínez de la Rosa, head of the INAH, said the significance and meaning of the new stone map was based on “a study of the designs and patterns as well as a comparison to similar petroglyphs found in the region.” The map contains both orographic and hydrological features. The carved hollows, representing locally situated villages, and a series of lines between the ancient settlements were found to correspond with the geographical landscape of the southern slope of the Colima volcano, with ravines and rivers all clearly apparent.
Archaeologists determined that the context dating of the newly discovered map does not correspond with the Chanal or Postclassic Colimense phase (1000–1500 AD). Instead, the new map style is more closely aligned with early tombs from the Late Pre-classic and Early Classic periods between 200 BC and 200 AD. Archaeologist Rafael Platas Ruiz said these “ map-stones” undoubtedly helped indigenous people to understand and facilitate the management of their territory and that they were a way of preserving knowledge from one generation to another at a time when writing did not exist.
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