Circular Pyramids

Have you ever heard of ancient pyramids in western Mexico? Not built by the Aztecs, nor by the Mayans, these pyramids are 1,000 years older than those at Chichen Itza. And they are circular! Nice and round, and surrounded by square platforms. these were elaborate ceremonial sites with ball courts and open areas in a beautiful hilltop setting about 30 miles west of present-day Guadalajara.
On Tuesday, February 10th, we took the bus to Chapala, to begin a tour to these pyramids. We first went to the town of Teuchitlan, a pretty place founded in the early 1540s. Then out to Guachimontones. They started excavating the area in 1999, and have just started construction on a visitor center/museum. The ball game was called "ulama", and the court is about 3 times as long as other ball courts we have seen in Oaxaca, Arizona,,and other places--and the game was very different, with no hoop, a large, heavy rubber ball that had to be struck with the hip, and something like an end zone to score. And as with some other ritual sports, the captain of the WINNING team was rewarded by having his head removed.
Afterward we had lunch in Tequila, founded April 15, 1530, by Franciscans, then to a small tequila factory where we watched the whole process from cutting leaves off the blue agaves, leaving the "pineapple" to be cooked, all the way to the finished product.
I mention dates of founding to give you an idea of how old this culture is. The blue agave has been used to make a fermented drink for over 2,000 years. Much, maybe most, of the culture of Mexico is based on the unbroken traditions of the people who got here first. And there has been plenty of time for the Spanish and Indian cultures to blend, evolve, and develop the unique society of Mexico. Ajijic, where we are now, has been home to people for thousands of years, and it was "founded" again by the spanish in the early 1540s. That is over 300 years before Seattle and most other cities of central and western United States--with the obvious exception of cities like LA, Santa Fe, San Antonio, and others which were originally part of Spanish North America. I wonder what Seattle will be like 300 years from now.