Chiapa de Corzo, Chiapas

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Chiapa de Corzo is a small city and municipality situated near the center of the Mexican state of Chiapas, in the southeastern part of the country. Located in the Grijalva valley of the Chiapas highlands, Chiapa de Corzo lies some 15 km (9.3 mi) to the east of the state capital, Tuxtla Gutiérrez. The municipality had a recorded population in the 2000 Census of some 60,620 inhabitants.^[1]

It was originally inhabited by the Soctona ethnic group and its name at that time was Soctón Nandalumí.^{[citation needed]} The Soctona were the only ones who didn't surrender during the Spanish conquest, resisting several armed expeditions until the campaigns of Pedro de Alvarado when they were defeated and almost exterminated.

[edit] History

The Chiapas highlands region has been inhabited since at least the Archaic period of Mesoamerican history. The nearby pre-Columbian Mesoamerican archaeological site, also known as Chiapa de Corzo, shows evidence of continual occupation since the Early Formative period ( ca. 1400 BCE). The mounds and plazas at the Chiapa de Corzo archaeological site date to approximately 700 BCE with the temple and palace constructed during the Late Formative, perhaps 400 BCE to 200 CE.^[2]

The oldest Maya Long Count date yet discovered, December 36 BCE, was found on one of several monuments here. Chiapa de Corzo is also notable for a pottery sherd containing what is likely Epi-Olmec script -- dated to as early as 300 BCE, this sherd would be the oldest instance of that writing system yet discovered.^[3]

In colonial times, Chiapa de Corzo was the indigenous capital of Chiapas, which is why it was called the Chiapa of the Indians, as opposed to the "Chiapa of the Spaniards", San Cristóbal de las Casas, which was inhabited almost entirely by criollos. Over time, this apartheid system has been disappearing, and the city has a much greater mixture of ethnicities now.

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• INEGI (2004). Chiapa de Corzo, Chiapas. Cuaderno estadístico municipal
• Justeson, John S., and Kaufman, Terrence (2001) Epi-Olmec Hieroglyphic Writing and Texts.
• Lowe, G. W., "Chiapas de Corzo", in Evans, Susan, ed., Archaeology of Ancient Mexico and Central America, Taylor & Francis, London.

Coordinates: 16°42′N 93°00′W