24
Cerro Bernal, Chiapas as an Embodiment of a Mesoamerican Sacred Mountain
Claudia García-Des Lauriers&DOLIRUQLD6WDWH3RO\WHFKQLF8QLYHUVLW\3RPRQD
FODXULHUV#FSSHGX&HUUR%HUQDOORFDWHGRQWKHVRXWKHUQ3DFL¿FFRDVWDOSODLQLVDVWULNLQJIHDWXUHRQWKHODQGVFDSH
Archaeological sites such as Los Horcones, an Early Classic center with strong ties to Teotihuacan, thegreat Central Mexican metropolis, point to the strategic location of the mountain from which the estuaries
and the overland trade route could be controlled. Beyond its strategic functions, Cerro Bernal contains
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throughout Mesoamerica. Archaeological, iconographic, ethnohistoric, and ethnographic evidence revealthat Cerro Bernal was more than a strategic landscape. It was a sacred mountain, a place of abundance,
and terrestrial paradise, not unlike the mythical Tlalocan. Its dramatic peak that drew the rain clouds
whose moisture fed the Río Horcones and the estuaries at its foothills made it an ideal altepetl—water
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este paisaje. Sitios arqueológicos como Los Horcones, un centro del Clásico Temprano con fuertes
vínculos a Teotihuacán la gran metrópoli de México central, señala la localidad estratégica de esta
montaña de donde las rutas de comercio terrestre y de los estuarios fueron controladas. Mas allá de estas
funciones estratégicas, el Cerro Bernal tiene importantes características que le permiten encajar bien
con los arquetipos del paisaje sagrado bien conocidos por todo Mesoamérica. Evidencias arqueológica,
LFRQRJUi¿FDHWQRKLVWyULFD\HWQRJUi¿FDUHYHODQTXHHO&HUUR%HUQDOIXHPDVTXHXQSDLVDMHHVWUDWpJLFRFue un monte sagrado, un lugar de abundancia, y paraíso terrenal parecido al mítico Tlalocan. Su
pico dramático atrae a las nubes cuya humedad y lluvia alimentan el Río Horcones y los estuarios y sus
estribaciones lo conforman como in altepetl ideal—una montaña de agua. En este ensayo, exploro el
VLJQL¿FDGRUHOLJLRVRGHHVWHPRQWHVDJUDGR

297

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its natural features as ideologically potent elements of

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ZHUHQRWRYHUORRNHGE\SHRSOHLQWKHSDVW,QWKLVSDSHU,ZLOOFRPELQHWKHLQIRUPDWLRQJDWKHUHGIURPWKHVH

Figure 24.1.

HWKQRJUDSKLFLQWHUYLHZVUHVHDUFKRQ0HVRDPHULFDQ

Map of Los Horcones, Chiapas (Drawn by H. Fukuhara &VDFUHGODQGVFDSHVDQGWKHDUFKDHRORJ\RI/RV+RUFRQHV

C. García-Des Lauriers).

WRPDNHWKHDUJXPHQWWKDWIURP3UHFROXPELDQWRFRQWHPSRUDU\WLPHV&HUUR%HUQDOKDVEHHQPRUHWKDQ
MXVWDVWUDWHJLFODQGVFDSH²LWZDVDQHPERGLPHQWRIWKH
0HVRDPHULFDQFRQFHSWRIWKHVDFUHGPRXQWDLQ“El Cerro Bernal esta Encantado”:KLOHGRLQJDUFKDHRORJLFDOZRUNDW/RV+RUFRQHVORFDOUHVLGHQWVVKDUHGPDQ\VWRULHVDERXW&HUUR%HUQDOLWVQDWXUDOEHDXW\UHVRXUFHVDQGOHJHQGV,Q-XO\RI

Figure 24.2.
Photo of Cerro Bernal as seen from La Polka, Chiapas(Photo by C. García-Des Lauriers).

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Preliminary Conclusions
Cerro Bernal is a beautiful place, a strategicallyFigure 24.3.
Stele 3, Los Horcones (Photo by C. García-Des Lauriers).

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Figure 24.4.

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García-Des Lauriers).

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Acknowledgements
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