The Pyramids of Cañada de la Virgen

| Cañada de la Virgen, photo by G. Enns |

Beyond the semi-desert of this high plane full of nopal cactus and acerbuche trees, down into the gorge cut by the Rio de la Virgen, is a glen containing what remains of the biodiversity the Otomi once lived in—lush wooded forests, flowers, wildlife, flowing water.

From the gorge we turn to look up the hill, then take our first steps up the natural volcanic stones the Otomi once used as a ceremonial highway from the valley, thought to represent the underworld, to the top of the hill and a large sunken patio the Otomi may have used as a giant water mirror to study the stars. The walls of this sunken space, once much higher, would have shielded the water from the breezes that may have otherwise rippled its surface. 

| Cañada de la Virgen, photo by G. Enns |

We step down a steep stone stairway into the patio now covered in grasses dried by the arid winds and cross it to the grand pyramid now called the House of the Thirteen Heavens, where at the top the already thousand year old bones of a great elder and leader were buried and where nearby were found the bones of a girl warrior with shield, armor, and weapons, an axe head buried in her skull post mortem to bring the blessing of rain to the land.

We climb the narrow steps to the top, where ceremonial bloodletting, animal, and human sacrifices may have happened, and survey the land, east to west. The pyramid is perfectly aligned and pitched to track the movements of the sun, the moon, and Venus throughout the seasons. At solstice, from a vantage point below, the sun seems to set directly into the center of the pyramid, a symbolic seed planted into the people’s mountain, a blessing for a successful planting season. 

Nearby, in a smaller sunken patio, the remains of a young girl were found, buried next to a water source. When first discovered, great rains suddenly came down, halting further excavation for some time. Now she is known as La Niña de la Lluvia.

The clouds roll in, casting shadows across the warm stones. It begins to sprinkle. Time to leave these houses of the ancient heavens. We make our way back down the old stone highway to a paved road and a bus waiting to take us back to the present day.