La Ferrería

La Ferrería is an archaeological site located 7 kilometers south of the city of Durango, in the Mexican state of Durango, at the “Cerro de La Ferrería”, on the side of the Tunal River. In the surrounding region mainly are Mesquite and Aloe, the fauna comprises hares, rabbits, foxes, coyotes, squirrel and lizards. The first inhabitants of this region were Nahua, nomads from the North of the continent, two thousand years ago. During the postclassical period the city was occupied by Zacatecas people and their contemporaries tepehuanos, from the southeast of the Guadiana Valley up to “Nombre de Dios”. La Ferrería was first inhabited by a group that basically subsisted from farming corn, beans and squash, and were hunter-gatherers to complete their diet; because of its proximity to the Tunal river, it is assumed that hunting and fishing were common activities. It has been detected that the site was occupied several times between 875 and 1450 CE. The site includes archaeological finds such as: circular ritual spaces, bird bones and stone rings, that provide indications of ties with cultures of the American southwest and especially with Paquimé, which could hypothetically mean or suggest a fusion between late northern Mesoamerican cultures and the American southwest.

The first settlers who were in La Ferrería are known as the Nahuas who were in her in the 600 A.D. and they migrated from around North America. Also from 600 C.E. to 1450 C.E. the tribes who were in this place were known as the Zacatecan and Tepehuano Indian tribes. The Ferrería was also known as a place where people meet to have a religious gathering at which they built pyramids, places of worship and houses. Also in 2007, a museum near La Ferrería was remodeled and it contains archaeological artifacts that have been discovered there for people to go see. This broad area represents the natural corridor that the Sierra Madre Occidental offered to the Toltec and Nahuatlaca tribes, both of whom took advantage of the large accidental stone conformations to survive in the wilderness of the territory. The new formations formed as the only security for the tribes that moved among Northern Mexico and the Valley of Anahuac, eventually becoming a home-state for these tribes who then began to form small communities, united by language and region. The Huichol, Cora, and Tarahumara Tepehuanos incorporated perfectly distinct nations, each with evident sedentary purposes, and a strong family structure, all whilst setting aside the bellicose attitude of the Chichimec tribe of the center of the then-current Republic. The exceptions were the Acaxee, Humas, and Xiximes who were constantly at war but always on the look-out for final settlements in the region of the Quebradas. On the east bank of the state a longitudinal zone can be found, that extends from the current state of Zacatecas to the la Laguna area between the entities of Durango and Coahuila. The "Indios Laguneros" (Laguna Indians) traveled interchangeably between this area, they were characterized by their rebellious attitude, instability, religious customs and for being hunters and gatherers. These Natives of which so little was recorded were the first inhabitants of the region long before they were exterminated by the Spanish colonists. Today, only a few remain of the Tepehuanos, Huicholes, Coras and Tarahumara tribes. There is an opinion which assumes that Mesoamerican cultures would have migrated northward. Hence Oasisamerica would be a branch of neighboring southerners. In that regard, the development of Oasisamerican cultures, such as those from northern Mesoamerica, would have been related to groups originally inhabiting western Mexico. Archaeological evidence suggests an affiliation with uto-nahua groups would have taken

Archaeological site data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).