Xihuacan
archaeological site in Mexico
Xihuacan is a Mesoamerican archeological site located on the Costa Grande of the Mexican state of Guerrero, near the small town of La Soledad de Maciel, and the larger towns of Zihuatanejo and Petatlán. While pieces had been found at the site earlier, including the King of La Chole stele and Mesoamerican ball court rings, formal excavations were only recently begun. The site had been occupied for over 3,000 years and by three cultures, with contact with other Mesoamerican cultures such as the Teotihuacan and Olmec. Explored areas include what may be the largest Mesoamerican ball court, a 1-hectare (2.5-acre) pyramidal base and a hill with petroglyphs and a probable sacrifice stone.
According to residents, pieces had been found in the area since the 1930s, including some of the most important but formal excavations were begun only in the late part of the first decade of the 2000s, when authorities began to acquire lands for the archeologic exploration. One of these pieces is a stele discovered in 1944 called the King of La Chole, who was a venerated figure. Today, this piece is at the local church. The feet of the stele were in a private home but were returned to the site for its new museum. The rings of the ball court were taken to the city of Petatlán, along with a circular stone representing the goddess of the Earth, Tlaltecutli but have now been returned to the museum at the site. The stele, however, will remain at the local church.
The public source identifies “Xihuacan” as archaeological site in Mexico. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Xihuacan, archaeological and site.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Xihuacan”, the useful work is to connect “archaeological site in Mexico” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 10, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6465304. Authority coordinates are 17.517, -101.317. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1944.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Xihuacan”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Xihuacan primary sources, Xihuacan archive and Xihuacan research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Xihuacan”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Xihuacan” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.