The earliest documentation of Los Guachimontones comes from Victorian artist Adela Breton.
Breton traveled through the Tequila Valleys region in the 1890s.
During her travels, near the town of San Marcos Breton documented a mound in the process of being destroyed that contained several burials, hollow ceramic figures, and shell ornaments.
This mound was likely the central altar for a guachimonton, but with its complete destruction, we may never know exactly what the mound was.
Breton continued east stopping at the town of Teuchitlán in which she documented the site of Los Guachimontones.
Breton took three photographs of the site, created two sketch maps, and collected a number of obsidian artifacts from a Postclassic workshop.
These materials are now stored at the Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery in Bristol, United Kingdom.
Unfortunately, Breton did not publish her maps or photographs and the unique architectural form of the guachimontones went unnoticed for several decades until the late 1960s.

Following shortly after Breton, anthropologist Carl Lumholtz journeyed through the Tequila Valleys as part of his travels south from Phoenix, Arizona through the Sierra Madre Occidental to Michoacán.
While Lumholtz did not record a visit to Los Guachimontones itself, did acquire ceramic vessels from the nearby town of Estanzuela to the southeast of Teuchitlán.
Of some importance are the photos Lumholtz took of Laguna Magdalena showing the extent of some of its shoreline before the lake was largely drained in the 1930s to create arable land.
Laguna Magdalena would have provided important lacustrine resources to the Teuchitlán culture in the form of fish, reeds, lake fowl, and other goods.

The guachimontón architectural form went undocumented by archaeologists for almost 70 years after Breton’s journey through the area.
Despite archaeological work conducted in the Magdalena Lake Basin by Jose Corona Nunez in the 1950s  and Stanley Long in the 1960s  at the sites of El Arenal and San Sebastian, the guachimontón went unrecognized.
Not until 1974 with two publications, one by Phil Weigand and another by Joseph Mountjoy and Weigand, did the guachimonton form gain attention in Mesoamerican studies.
Until Weigand’s publication, other Mesoamerican academics characterized West Mexico as a region made of small hamlets with no significant contributions until the Postclassic period and rise of the Kingdom of Tzintzuntzan in present-day Michoacán.
Weigand and Mountjoy  formally mapped Los Guachimontones for the first time in 1974.
This map included the two ceremonial centers at the site and a number of terraces and house mounds.
Weigand continued working in the Tequila Valleys region for three decades documenting dozens of Teuchitlán Culture sites with guachimontones, Mesoamerican ballcourts, house mounds, and shaft and chamber tombs.
It was not until 1999 and the Proyecto Arqueológico Teuchitlán (PAT) that Weigand began excavating Teuchitlán Culture sites, specifically the site of Los Guachimontones.
However, other Teuchitlán Culture sites were excavated by other archaeologists, namely at Huitzilapa  and the La Venta Corridor.
Weigand noted that until relatively recently, a spring used to flow near the ceremonial center.
People from the town of Teuchitlán used to bring people to this spring as part of a baptism ritual.

Weigand was director of PAT from 1999 to his death in 2011.
After Weigand’s death, Dr. Verenice Heredia Espinoza from El Colegio de Michoacán became the new director.
Heredia continues to conduct research at the site with a focus on analyzing the substantial collection of artifacts recovered from Weigand’s excavations.
The earliest documentation of Los Guachimontones comes from Victorian artist Adela Breton. Breton traveled through the Tequila Valleys region in the 1890s. During her travels, near the town of San Marcos Breton documented a mound in the process of being destroyed that contained several burials, hollow ceramic figures, and shell ornaments. This mound was likely the central altar for a guachimonton, but with its complete destruction, we may never know exactly what the mound was. Breton continued east stopping at the town of Teuchitlán in which she documented the site of Los Guachimontones. Breton took three photographs of the site, created two sketch maps, and collected a number of obsidian artifacts from a Postclassic workshop. These materials are now stored at the Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery in Bristol, United Kingdom. Unfortunately, Breton did not publish her maps or photographs and the unique architectural form of the guachimontones went unnoticed for several decades until the late 1960s.
Following shortly after Breton, anthropologist Carl Lumholtz journeyed through the Tequila Valleys as part of his travels south from Phoenix, Arizona through the Sierra Madre Occidental to Michoacán. While Lumholtz did not record a visit to Los Guachimontones itself, did acquire ceramic vessels from the nearby town of Estanzuela to the southeast of Teuchitlán. Of some importance are the photos Lumholtz took of Laguna Magdalena showing the extent of some of its shoreline before the lake was largely drained in the 1930s to create arable land. Laguna Magdalena would have provided important lacustrine resources to the Teuchitlán culture in the form of fish, reeds, lake fowl, and other goods.
The guachimontón architectural form went undocumented by archaeologists for almost 70 years after Breton’s journey through the area. Despite archaeological work conducted in the Magdalena Lake Basin by Jose Corona Nunez in the 1950s  and Stanley Long in the 1960s  at the sites of El Arenal and San Sebastian, the guachimontón went unrecognized. Not until 1974 with two publications, one by Phil Weigand and another by Joseph Mountjoy and Weigand, did the guachimonton form gain attention in Mesoamerican studies. Until Weigand’s publication, other Mesoamerican academics characterized West Mexico as a region made of small hamlets with no significant contributions until the Postclassic period and rise of the Kingdom of Tzintzuntzan in present-day Michoacán. Weigand and Mountjoy  formally mapped Los Guachimontones for the first time in 1974. This map included the two ceremonial centers at the site and a number of terraces and house mounds. Weigand continued working in the Tequila Valleys region for three decades documenting dozens of Teuchitlán Culture sites with guachimontones, Mesoamerican ballcourts, house mounds, and shaft and chamber tombs. It was not until 1999 and the Proyecto Arqueológico Teuchitlán (PAT) that Weigand began excavating Teuchitlán Culture sites, specifically the site of Los Guachimontones. However, other Teuchitlán Culture sites were excavated by other archaeologists, namely at Huitzilapa  and the La Venta Corridor. Weigand noted that until relatively recently, a spring used to flow near the ceremonial center. People from the town of Teuchitlán used to bring people to this spring as part of a baptism ritual.
Weigand was director of PAT from 1999 to his death in 2011. After Weigand’s death, Dr. Verenice Heredia Espinoza from El Colegio de Michoacán became the new director. Heredia continues to conduct research at the site with a focus on analyzing the substantial collection of artifacts recovered from Weigand’s excavations.
Guachimontones