Thousand-Year-Old Petroglyphs Discovered in Nayarit Luis Domínguez - PV Pulse
go to original January 23, 2013

Cantil de las animas petroglyph (Source: INAH)

Mexican archaeologists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), discovered a complex panel of petroglyphs at the site "Cantil de las ánimas," near the town of Jesús María Cortés, in Tepic, Nayarit.

The petroglyphs were carved between the years 850 and 1350 AD, meaning that some of them are over a millennium old.
 
The petroglyphs are a characteristic form of expression of the ancient cultures of Nayarit. Actually, right in the heart of Riviera Nayarit we can find some great examples of them at the archaeological site of Alta Vista, close to La Peñita.

The recently discovered petroglyphs are thought to be from the Aztatlan culture and they cover a stone area of 4 meters long and 2 meters wide, with the front looking southwards.

The petroglyphs content is symbolic and it is divided in two halves; the eastern half is focused on fertility-fecundity symbols such as rainy clouds, snails, and feminine sexual organs. On the western half there are lots of skulls looking to the East, the place where sun rises.
 
Archaeologists believe that the stone mural was used as a sacred place, but it is also possible that it was a kind of astronomic marker, but this is still just a hypothesis.

In the next few months, the "Cantil de las animas" site will be registered in the Archaeological Zones index of the INAH, and there will be a detailed report of each and every one of its designs, which will allow for an integral interpretation of the petroglyphs.