El Opeño
Interactive map of Tecuexe – Purépecha – Archaeological Site El Opeño archaeological site | |
| Location | Jacona, current day known as, Michoacan, Mexico |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 19°56′03″N 102°18′26″W / 19.93417°N 102.30722°W |
| History | |
| Founded | 1300 BCE |
| Abandoned | 200 BCE |
| Periods | Preclassical |
| Cultures | Chichimeca – Tecuexe – Purépecha (Uto-Aztecan language – Purépecha language) |
El Opeño is a Mesoamerican archaeological site located in the municipality of Jacona in the state of Michoacán, Mexico. It is home to a prehispanic site, mainly known from the ceramic material found in the funerary complexes of the site, which have been dated to the Late Preclassic period. The importance of this site in mesoamerican archaeology is due to its antiquity and the ample diffusion of its style, contemporary to other native culture developments such as the Capacha culture and earlier than the Chupicuaro. El Opeño tombs, the oldest in Mesoamerica, have been dated to around 1600 BCE - a similar period as Olmec culture development.
El Opeño discoveries became a milestone that questions the Olmec culture as the founders or precursors of all mesoamerican cultures.
At the same time, the lack of validated information becomes evident, as well as the need of serious studies of Cem Ānáhuac history, name of the territories known to the Mexica civilization before the Mexico Spaniards invasion and conquest.