Las Labradas is an

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...

located on the coast of the municipality of San Ignacio, in southern

Sinaloa Sinaloa (), officially the Estado Libre y Soberano de Sinaloa ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sinaloa), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 18 municipalities and ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

Location

Thirty-three kilometers south of the

Gulf of California The Gulf of California ( es, Golfo de California), also known as the Sea of Cortés (''Mar de Cortés'') or Sea of Cortez, or less commonly as the Vermilion Sea (''Mar Bermejo''), is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean that separates the Baja C ...

coast is the mouth of

Piaxtla River The Piaxtla River is a short coastal river of the northwest area of Mexico that flows into the Pacific Ocean, it has a length of 220 km and drains a basin of 11,473 km². See also *List of rivers of Mexico *List of rivers of the Americas by coast ...

. There, there is a port called

Piaxtla Bars Piaxtla (municipality) is a town and municipality in the Mexican state of Puebla in south-eastern Mexico. See also *Piaxtla River The Piaxtla River is a short coastal river of the northwest area of Mexico that flows into the Pacific Ocean, it ...

. On one of the beaches of that port is a set of

petroglyph A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

s, some of which date back to the ninth and tenth centuries, called ''Las Labradas''. An investigation has been carried out on the petroglyphs of the region, which were mostly carried out on a cliff of

volcanic rock Volcanic rock (often shortened to volcanics in scientific contexts) is a rock formed from lava erupted from a volcano. In other words, it differs from other igneous rock by being of volcanic origin. Like all rock types, the concept of volcanic ...

, called ''La Ventana''. It has been determined that some of the petroglyphs could date back thousands of years. Due to the plastic quality of the

glyph A glyph () is any kind of purposeful mark. In typography, a glyph is "the specific shape, design, or representation of a character". It is a particular graphical representation, in a particular typeface, of an element of written language. A g ...

s, the site is considered one of the most important places of

rock art In archaeology, rock art is human-made markings placed on natural surfaces, typically vertical stone surfaces. A high proportion of surviving historic and prehistoric rock art is found in caves or partly enclosed rock shelters; this type also m ...

in American continent. Various forms of plants, flowers, fish, humans and

zoomorphic The word ''zoomorphism'' derives from the Greek ζωον (''zōon''), meaning "animal", and μορφη (''morphē''), meaning "shape" or "form". In the context of art, zoomorphism could describe art that imagines humans as non-human animals. It c ...

figures are strangely stylized.

Gallery

File:Petroglifos de Las Labradas 09.jpg, Petroglyphs of the archaeological site of Las Labradas, situated on the coast of the municipality of San Ignacio (Mexican state of Sinaloa) File:Petroglifos de Las Labradas 11.jpg, Petroglyphs of the archaeological site of Las Labradas, situated on the coast of the municipality of San Ignacio (Mexican state of Sinaloa) File:Petroglifos de Las Labradas 08.jpg, Petroglyphs of the archaeological site of Las Labradas, situated on the coast of the municipality of San Ignacio (Mexican state of Sinaloa) File:Petroglifos de Las Labradas 12.jpg, Petroglyphs of the archaeological site of Las Labradas, situated on the coast of the municipality of San Ignacio (Mexican state of Sinaloa) File:Petroglifos de Las Labradas 04.jpg, Petroglyphs of the archaeological site of Las Labradas, situated on the coast of the municipality of San Ignacio (Mexican state of Sinaloa)

References

External links

{{Commons category, Las Labradas
Discover the engravings of Las Labradas

Las Labradas, Sinalao archaeological site

The Petroglyphs of Las Labradas – More Information about the Late Archaic of Northwest Mexico
Archaeological sites in Mexico Sinaloa Petroglyphs in Mexico Rock art in North America World Heritage Tentative List for Mexico