Chalcatzingo

Located in the southern portion of the Central Highlands of Mexico, Chalcatzingo is estimated to have been settled as early as 1500 BCE.

[2] Chalcatzingo is situated near two large granodiorite hills in the Amatzinac River Valley, within an otherwise generally flat landscape.

The process of making those molds tended to destroy fine lines and actually tore small portions of the stone out.

Their apparent common theme of rain and fertility has led Kent Reilly to name this the Water Dancing Group.

The cave entrance is as tall as the figure, and scroll volutes (perhaps indicating speech or perhaps wind) are issuing from it.

"A striking parallel exists between the imagery of Chalcatzingo Monument 1 and Izapa Stela 8, both of which feature elite individuals enthroned within a quatrefoil.

"[9] In addition to "El Rey", the Water Dancing Group includes five smaller bas-reliefs, all depicting various saurian-like creatures sitting atop scrolls (though Reilly refers to these as "lazy [sideways] S" patterns)[10] underneath exclamation-like objects (again most likely raindrops) falling from what appear to be clouds.

[11] The second group also consists of bas-reliefs, but they have been carved upon the loose stone slabs and boulders at the foot of the mountain rather than on the mountainside.

They are larger than those of the Water Dancing group (all but "El Rey") and the carvings primarily depict fantastic creatures dominating outlined human figures: According to University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign archaeologist David Grove, these four reliefs likely illustrate "a sequence of mythical events important in the cosmogony of the peoples of Chalcatzingo".

The monument depicts a woman dressed in sandals, head covering, and a skirt who is touching – or perhaps erecting[14] – a bound stela.

The Central Mexican identity can perhaps best be appreciated by contrasting the character of the monumental art with the numerous anthropomorphic figurines recovered at Chalcatzingo.

These figurines, which are clearly within an indigenous Central Mexican tradition, may be thought of as depicting the people who lived in Morelos at the dawn of Mesoamerican civilization.

Chalcatzingo's decline coincided with the development of widespread settlement clusters throughout the Morelos region, consisting mainly of small farming villages.

Over 1000 years after Chalcatzingo's abandonment, the Late Classic settlement Xochicalco reached its peak in Morelos between 700 and 900 CE.