Chalcatzingo

Chalcatzingo is a Mesoamerican archaeological site in the Valley of Morelos dating from the Formative Period of Mesoamerican chronology [1]. The site is well known for its extensive array of Olmec-style monumental art and iconography [1]. Located in the southern portion of the Central Highlands of Mexico, Chalcatzingo is estimated to have been settled as early as 1500 BCE [1]. The inhabitants began to produce and display Olmec-style art and architecture around 900 BCE [1]. At its height between 700 BCE and 500 BCE, Chalcatzingo's population is estimated at between five hundred and a thousand people [1]. By 500 BCE it had gone into decline [1]. Chalcatzingo is situated near two large granodiorite hills in the Amatzinac River Valley [1]. Chalcatzingo contains what may be the earliest representation of a woman in Mesoamerican monumental art on Monument 21 [1].