Other figurines reveal deliberately flattened and elongated heads, similar to human skulls found at Chupicuaro graves. These remains showed evidence of binding flat boards to an infant's head to alter the shape, probably as a mark of elite status. Clay animals found in the 390 grave sites at Chupicuaro include dogs, bats, frogs, and hummingbirds. The lively qualities of the ceramic figurines and the animals and human faces decorating the painted or burnished bowls allow us to feel the distant pulse of Chupicuaro artisans. These colorful, playful objects stand in stark contrast to their simple, often harsh environment.
Archaeology shows they lived in houses of stick and mud with clay floors.
They farmed small plots of corn, beans, and squash and hunted birds and small game. Warfare with neighboring people was almost constant. We cannot say with certainty, but the symbols found on Chupicuaro objects give mute testimony to a belief system about the world that can be detected in designs from West Mexico and the Southwestern U.S. over a span of two thousand years. Today, Chupicuaro has sunk into mystery again, as flood waters from the Solis dam cover the ancient site. Humanist Although Central Mexico was conquered by the Spaniards in 1521, West Mexico did not come under Spanish control for two centuries, in 1721.