The term refers to the charred remains found at the site to extract stone for the construction of the estate. Cultural significance The ancient inhabitants of La Quemada settled in the Malpaso Valley, current municipality of Villanueva south central State Zacatecas.

The prehistoric occupation occurred between the years 350/400 to 1150 AD, having its peak between 600 to 850 AD Becoming a leading center that managed to concentrate in their environment 220 settlements with functions and sizes. La Quemada represents the most significant monumental settlement in north central Mexico for its architecture. At the site there is a large living room with its square columns, a court for the big ball game in the traditional form of "I" and a pyramidal base called Votive Pyramid. The rest of the hill was adequate with large terraces to level and build various spaces and large lounges. The network of prehispanic roads that communicates with the smaller settlements around it is a manifestation of his power and control, which circulated taxes and resources that sustained the population and processions to honor their deities.

The ruins are also known as Chicomoztoc, Huichol legend seems to support the second theory: there was an evil priest, the story runs, who lived on a rock surrounded by walls and covered with buildings, with eagles and jaguars under his command to oppress the population. The people appealed to their gods, who destroyed the priest and his followers with “great heat”, warning the people not to go near the rock again. Chicomoztoc was in fact destroyed by fire around 1300 AD and was never reoccupied; even today, the Huichol, in their annual pilgrimage from the Sierra Madre in the west to collect peyote around Real de Catorce to the east, take a long detour to bypass this area. In addition to the reconstructed temple here, you’ll see a large hall with eleven pillars still standing, a ball-court, an extensive (if barely visible from the ground) system of roads heading out into the valley and many lesser, ruinous structures all listed for eventual reconstruction. Much of the restoration work is based on drawings produced over the course of ten years from 1825 by a German mining engineer, Carlos de Burghes.

Monday to Sunday from 9-18 hours.

MSc. Carlos Alberto Padilla Torreblanca. Coordinator of the Archaeological Monuments Zone La Quemada.

Wear a hat, suitable clothing and footwear to access the hill, since the route is large and the world steps.

The archaeological site of La Quemada 56 kilometers south of the city of Zacatecas is located.From the capital city of the federal highway 54, Mexico-Guadalajara, heading for the town of Villanueva, takes you continue on the road on the cruise-Villanueva-Jerez Zacatecas, then through the community of Felipe Angeles. On the road to Villanueva Zacatecas is the junction of La Quemada (advertised Ruins Chicomoztoc). This cruise enters 2,500 kilometers to find the dugout entrance to the archaeological site. Services available The archaeological zone has parking, restrooms, the Archaeological Museum of La Quemada (Administered by the State Government of Zacatecas), a unit of visitor services and free tourist guide called "tenanches".