Nevado de Toluca and Nahualac. Two mountainous ritual archaeological sites with underwater cultural heritage

Abstract

The objective of this article is to present the particularities of two places with mountainous archaeological sites of pre Hispanic worship with underwater cultural heritage in central Mexico, which have been investigated by the Underwater Archeology Branch of the National Institute of Anthropology and History. The study of both spaces has been approached from a multidisciplinary perspective that seeks to know their ritual and symbolic meaning within the Mesoamerican pre-Hispanic worldview, as well as the specific characteristics of their archaeological contexts and the cultural elements that compose them. The first place is the crater of the Nevado de Toluca volcano, which have two lakes at 4,200 meters above sea level with ritual evidence and pre-Hispanic offerings dedicated to water and mountains. The second site called Nahualac is located on the west flank of the Iztaccihuatl volcano; in it there is a pre-Hispanic temple built inside an artificial pond at 3890 meters above sea level. In both places the evidence indicates a close symbolic correspondence with the natural environment, which is why its investigation requires considering the ecological environment, the pre-Hispanic worldview and the link between human groups and water. Is this kind of places, the terrestrial and underwater contexts must be studied together to understand the ritual practices performed in a complex ritual landscape. The investigation of this type of spaces requires applying Underwater Archeology as a discipline that studies the human relationship with water through material evidence.