Sumidero Canyon - History and Archeology of The Area

History and Archeology of The Area

The history of the area is connected to the Chiapa people, who occupied the Central Valley area before the arrival of the Spanish. The origin of these people is not known, but theories have them migrating north from Nicaragua or even Paraguay. Their main settlement was in Chiapa de Corzo near the canyon, with a fortified area in the higher areas in the canyon for protection from invasions. The Chiapa fiercely resisted Spanish conquest and were not subdued until the arrival of Diego de Mazariegos in 1528. Their last refuge was in the fortified area, now known as the archeological site of the Ruins of Berlin. Here the last of the Chiapa held out from 1528 to 1535 after the Spanish took over the main city. Legend states that when this last fortification fell, the remaining Chiapa committed collective suicide by jumping into the canyon. Since then, the canyon has served as a boundary marker between the Zoque and Tzotzil peoples.

Until the 20th century, the canyon area was relatively unexplored. In 1895, three Frenchmen attempted to explore the canyon but were drowned in the river. An American came in 1932 but also perished. This gave rise to legends about witchcraft in the areas as well as the ferocity of the area’s crocodiles. In 1960, an expedition of soldiers from the Mexican army, nicknamed the “red handkerchiefs” succeeded into crossing through the canyon by boat over twenty km. This opened up the canyon to local exploration and exploitation, including rudimentary tourism and the hunting of crocodiles and other native fauna.

There has been little archeological work done in the area. The main site is called the Ruins of Berlin, named after German explorer Heinrich Berlin, who visited the area in 1946 and named the area “Sumidero. This site is located seven km from the Belisario Domínguez Bridge in Tuxtla on the edge of the river. It covers an area of 467 by 60 meters, bounded by small mounds surrounding patios. The original description of the site was undertaken in 1923 and 1932 by Becerra, who called it Chiapa Viejo, and stated it was the capital of the Chiapa people. However, Remesal in 1966 determined it was a secondary site. The last major survey was done in 1976 by Alejandro Martínez, discovering that there are twenty four individual sites of which nine are mounds and fifteen of which are in caves. One of these contains cave paintings which indicate that the area has been occupied since at least the very early Pre Classic period.