By Eugenio Amézquez Velasco
Translation: Metro News MX
-Multidisciplinary research started in 1987 breaks historical myths regarding the location of the cradle of Aztec civilization.
-Archaeological evidence and Epiclassic pottery directly link Cerro del Culiacán with the mythical Teo Culhuacán.
-During various expeditions and hiking activities led by the archaeologist—open to the public (WhatsApp: +52 411 134 3479)—he identifies evidence that strengthens studies by renowned experts.
-The 16th-century document Historia Tolteca-Chichimeca was the geographic key to locating the exact boundaries of the sacred mountain.
-The seven caves of Chicomostoc are not a legend; they physically exist in Guanajuato and retain their Nahuatl names after five centuries.
-Isla de Vargas in the Yuriria Lagoon matches the description of the "White Island of the Herons" mentioned in ancient codices.
-Meztitlán Lagoon, "where the moon is reflected," served as the ceremonial center and starting point of the Great Mexica Migration.
-The Sigüenza Map precisely illustrates how the guiding eagle emerged from one of the Guanajuato caves to summon the eight calpullis (clans).
-DNA studies conducted by international universities confirm that Mexica ancestors originate from the Guanajuato Bajío.
-Genetic science and archaeology displace theories pointing to Nayarit or Arizona, providing scientific rigor to the central Mexico location.
-Miguel León-Portilla endorsed that Cerro del Culiacán is the true Chicomostoc, rewriting Mexico's official historiography.
The origin of Mexican identity has wandered for decades through the terrain of romantic ambiguity and political speculation. However, contemporary research has dealt a decisive blow to historical uncertainty: Aztlán is not an unreachable myth; it is a geographic reality anchored in the heart of the Bajío. The painstaking analysis of archaeological remains at Cerro del Culiacán and the Yuriria Lagoon, in the state of Guanajuato, dismantles folkloric narratives to make way for a staggering scientific truth, as detailed in this documentary-interview by prominent archaeologist Julio Celis Polanco.
Historical and legal context
The support for this claim does not stem from light interpretation, but from documents with legal and genealogical validity from the 16th century. The Historia Tolteca-Chichimeca was not written as a tale, but as a legal instrument for noble families seeking recognition from the Spanish Crown. The precision with which these lineages described their boundaries allowed for the physical localization of Teo Culhuacán Chicomostoc in 1997. Guanajuato, far from being a secondary stage, reveals itself as the western capital of the Toltec Empire—a hub of military and commercial control that centralist official history attempted to dilute.
Scientific and Biological Evidence
What is truly irrefutable is the convergence of archaeology and human biology. While proposals placing Aztlán in Nayarit (Mexcaltitán) or Arizona lacked hard data, DNA studies by the University of Barcelona and the University of Tucson on skeletal remains from the Templo Mayor and Tlatelolco have confirmed a direct lineage. Genetics do not lie: the biological ancestors of the Mexica who founded Tenochtitlán were the inhabitants of the Guanajuato Bajío during the Epiclassic period. This data restores Guanajuato’s place as the matrix of the civilization that astonished the world.
Community and Cultural Impact
The existence of more than five hundred caves and the preservation of iconic names such as Mixcóatl, Chimalma, or Ehécatl in the Nahuatl language of local inhabitants demonstrates a cultural continuity that has weathered five hundred years of colonial erosion. The "White Island of the Herons" (Isla de Vargas) in Yuriria is not just a natural site; it is the ceremonial sanctuary where the eagle, as a symbol of power and guidance, summoned the calpullis to begin the march toward the Valley of Mexico. The toponymy—Meztitlán, "where the moon is reflected"—and the Coyotlatelco pottery found on-site are the fingerprints of a migration that transformed Mesoamerica.
It is imperative to call things by their name: the original homeland of the Aztecs is in Guanajuato. To continue treating Aztlán as a poetic entity is an act of intellectual negligence in the face of robust scientific evidence. Dr. Miguel León-Portilla’s validation was not a gesture of courtesy, but the recognition that Cerro del Culiacán is Teo Culhuacán Chicomostoc. The Bajío is not only the nation's current economic engine; it was, is, and will be the deep root where the destiny of Mexico was forged.
Documentary Transcript: Archaeologist Julio Celis Polanco
Archaeologist Julio Celis Polanco:
"Since 1987, this multidisciplinary investigation began, based on the study of Postclassic migrations. I had to investigate all existing proposals regarding Chapala, the Huasteca, Arizona, or the many places mentioned throughout history regarding the location of ancient Aztlán. One proposal told us it was in the state of Nayarit, an island called Mexcaltitán. Another suggested it was in Zacatecas, at La Quemada. As the investigation progressed, I realized there was no real scientific support; they were trying to force data to fit their preferred locations."
"It was then that Dr. Román Piña Chan recommended I revisit the studies of Dr. Paul Kirchhoff, who told me he was the first to define that this mountain existed: Teo Culhuacán Chicomostoc. This 'place of seven caves' belonged to a hunchbacked mountain called Teo Culhuacán Culhuacán, located in Guanajuato. I based my work on the Historia Tolteca-Chichimeca, a 16th-century document created by noble families of the Toltec lineage. They were descendants of Toltec-Chichimecas and recognized their lineage from Culhuacán Chicomostoc. They drafted a document to request the Spanish Crown's recognition of their nobility and land boundaries."
"Therefore, they were very specific and dedicated in marking these boundaries geographically. Being very careful, they located the mountains of origin. This helped us locate it more easily. In the narrative of this codex—which deals with genealogy, worldview, and geography—it explains how two messengers were sent from Cholula, Puebla, to the mountain of origin because they were losing the war against their enemies, the Olmeca-Xicallancas. They petitioned the supreme god, Ometéotl, who told them to return to the mountain of origin to bring out the warriors of the eight tribes that already existed. And that is what they did."
"They sent messengers who walked for six days through six different towns, and at nightfall on the sixth day, they reached the mountain of Teo Culhuacán Chicomostoc. By recreating this path in our current geography and locating each town, it led us immediately to the physical mountain. It was in 1997 when I had the opportunity to walk that path and reach this mountain for the first time. In the farmlands, there is surface pottery—the diagnostic type we were looking for, known as Coyotlatelco from the Epiclassic period. Indeed, this 'red-on-buff' and 'red-on-cream' found here indicates that the Toltec-Chichimeca culture—the cultural and biological ancestors of the Aztecs—were in this region."
"Then we realized it actually has caves. Speaking with the people of the mountain, those who live there, they confirmed that one of the names was Chicomostoc, although some did not know what it meant. Chicomostoc means 'the place of the seven caves' because there are indeed seven main caves. Each of their names is vital in the historiography of Postclassic migrations. The first important one is the Cueva de Mixcóatl, the first priest-warrior-guide of the eight tribes. His companion in some chronicles, Chimalma, is another priestess-guide whom we see represented in various codices; we have the Cueva de Chimalma. We also have the Cueva de Xólotl, a very important figure who would later lead the Aculhua people after the fall of Tula."
"It was surprising to see these iconic names exist on the mountain in the Nahuatl language and be preserved for so many centuries. Other caves mentioned include Tlaltecuhtli (Lord of the Earth), a very magical cave with a dual function: masculine as the path to the underworld and feminine as Mother Earth. The Cueva del Tepozán is where it is said a great eagle emerged, flew, and—as we now know—landed on one of the islands in the Meztitlán Lagoon to summon the people for migration. Finally, the Cueva de Ehécatl (Ehécatl-Quetzalcóatl), a civilizing priest of Mesoamerica. These concepts and worldview are embodied in the real geography of the caves. There are over 500 caves, niches, and rock shelters, including large caves with lava tubes."
"Researchers Paul Kirchhoff, Carlos Martínez Marín, and Antonio Pompa y Pompa had proposed that ancient Culhuacán Chicomostoc was Cerro del Culiacán, forming a cultural triad with Aztlán. But Aztlán is defined both as a population and an island. Ancient chronicles always speak of a 'White Island' or a 'Place of Whiteness.' Finding an island with those characteristics seemed difficult to believe, but a geographic review shows it exists in real life. It is known as the White Island of the Herons (Isla de Vargas) in the middle of the Meztitlán Lagoon, now the Yuriria Lagoon. I invite you to join me in seeing it."
"Currently, the Yuriria Lagoon functions as a regulating basin, but anciently it was part of a great paleo-lake that covered the entire Bajío. This reminiscence of a lagoon was refilled in the 16th century when a canal was built from the Lerma River because the area had become stagnant marshes causing mosquito epidemics. We have data showing the water reached the slopes of Cerro Teo Culhuacán Chicomostoc. Around the year 350 AD, following the end of the Chupícuaro culture, a great desiccation occurred. By the time of the Epiclassic (650–900 AD), 16th-century chronicles refer to it as Meztitlán Lagoon, meaning 'where the moon is reflected.' Later, the Purépecha invaded and the Toltec-Chichimecas abandoned the site."
"This is the White Island of the Herons. We are in the middle of the Yuriria Lagoon, but in the Postclassic/Epiclassic, this was Meztitlán. This lagoon is mentioned by Chimalpahin and Alvarado Tezozómoc in the Crónica Mexicáyotl. It describes how the Aztecs of Chicomostoc and Teo Culhuacán lived on the shores and islands, traveling to the slopes of the mountain to a place called Tozompa (the jetty). They lived as fishermen. Aztlán was not a 'lost city' or a myth; it was one of the four military and political capitals of the Toltec Empire: Pánuco in the north, Teotenango in the south, Tula in the east, and Aztlán in the west."
"Following the fall of the Toltec Empire, various groups moved to the central valleys of Mexico. This is when the guiding eagle emerges from a cave—specifically the Cueva del Tepozán—lands on this island, and summons the representatives of the calpullis, including figures like Tenoch, to explain the path they must follow to found Mexico. The island is white due to centuries of heron droppings; it is a sanctuary. While it couldn't support a massive population, it was a ceremonial center. We find surface pottery, obsidian, leveled terraces, stairways, and a quadrangular altar with carved rocks and offerings."
"When the Purépecha conquered the remaining Toltec-Chichimeca stronghold, they named it Hopuncheu, which means 'Place of Whiteness'—the exact same meaning as Aztlán in Nahuatl. Oral history in the villages around Cerro Culiacán still tells of the eagle emerging from a cave. Once the tribes gathered their relics, they began their march through the Apaseos in Guanajuato, down through San Juan del Río in Querétaro, and toward Huichapan in Hidalgo, where Cerro Coatepec is located—the site of the cosmic battle between Huitzilopochtli and Coyolxauhqui. From there, they went to Tula and finally to the Valley of Mexico to found Tenochtitlán on an island already inhabited, which they redesigned astronomically."
"This investigation prompted international universities to join the search for the Aztec homeland using human biology and DNA. The University of Patagonia (Argentina) and the University of Barcelona (Spain) studied cranial characteristics and DNA from remains at Tlatelolco and the Templo Mayor to compare them with samples from across Mesoamerica. They discovered that when Teotihuacán was abandoned, continuity was broken. A new group arrived from Western Mexico—the same people who founded Tula and later the settlements in the Central Valley, including the Aztecs. Simultaneously, the University of Tucson and the University of Denver reached the same conclusion: the people of the Guanajuato Bajío are the direct genetic ancestors of the Mexica found in the Templo Mayor."
"This aligns perfectly with the chronicles, the linguistic chronology of the Nahuatl language (already spoken in the Bajío), and the overall body of knowledge. This is why Dr. Miguel León-Portilla, Honorary Doctorate from UNAM, published years ago that Cerro del Culiacán in Guanajuato is indeed the ancient Teo Culhuacán Chicomostoc." #MetrNewsMx #GuanajuatoDesconocido
