El Teul Archaeological Zone

One of the oldest continuously occupied sites in northern Mesoamerica, located on Cerro del Teul in southern Zacatecas, Mexico, with habitation spanning from c. 200 BC to 1531 AD. The site preserves circular stepped pyramids of the Teuchitlan tradition, ball courts, and ceremonial platforms reflecting multiple cultural phases. It contained one of the earliest copper-smelting furnaces in pre-Hispanic Mexico, used between 900 and 1200 AD. The Caxcanes, one of the fiercest indigenous groups resisting Spanish conquest, occupied the site from c. 1350-1531 AD. Opened to the public in 2018 after a decade of excavation.