Travel Guide El Cerrito

About 7 kilometers southwest of Querétaro is a little known but interesting archaeological site called El Cerrito. The name of the site, "the little hill", is due to the fact that the main pyramid was for a long time hidden under grass and cactus, so that everyone thought it was a natural mound. It is the oldest and most important pre-Hispanic settlement in the Querétaro Valley. The area was occupied for more than 1,500 years under the influence of and in relation to different cultures, with the site remaining active until 1632, when a Franciscan monk reported that local people continued to make offerings to ancestral deities. It is estimated that the first agricultural community was established shortly before the beginning of our era, probably in the wake of the Chupícuaro culture that flourished on the banks of the Rió Lerma (Guanajuato). Then the city became an important political center between 450 and 600 AD, part of the network of the great Teotihuacan that extended to the north-central part of the country and maintained control over the production of obsidian. The great pyramid dates from this period. Its period of greatest development, however, took place after the fall of Teotihuacán and until the 11th century, when it was attached to the powerful Toltec Tula. In decline from the 11th century, the area would maintain a certain ritual importance among the Otomis and Purepechas (Tarascan Empire of Michoacaán) ethnic groups settled in the region.