Huandacareo

Huandacareo (Purepecha: "place of judgments"), locally known as La Nopalera, is a Purepecha ceremonial and administrative center about 50 km north of Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico, overlooking Lake Cuitzeo. Built c. 1200-1300 CE and active until the Spanish conquest around 1530, it features a sunken patio, temple platforms, and the Patio de las Tumbas with cist tombs. INAH excavations (1977-1983) uncovered copper tools, gold artifacts, obsidian implements, and burials with evidence of ritual sacrifice including 35 decapitated individuals.