TTINGAMBATO

INGAMBATO
The regionsurrounding
The region surrounding Lake
Lake Patzcuaro
Patzcuaro is rural
is rural MexicoMexico
at it’satbest
its and
bestbeauty
and beauty
unsurpassed.
unsurpassed.
Uruapan, one of he key colonial towns here with a bustling market on Sundays, ismarket
Uruapan, one of he key colonial towns here with a bustling on
the Tarascan
Sundays, is theand
word for flower, Tarascan word
there are for flower,
flowers in bloom and there areincluding
everywhere flowers in bloom everywhere
bougainvillea, azaleas, lilies
including
and roses. Along the lake are a number of charming agricultural villages notaunlike
bougainvillea, azaleas, lilies and roses. Along the lake are number of
Tingambato.
charming agricultural villages not unlike Tingambato.
Tingambato’s ruins are across town and next to the soccer field where a game was in progress as we
Tingambato’s
passed. The arearuins are across
is known for the town and next
rebel activity to thethe
against soccer field party.
PRI ruling whereWhilea game wasthe
touring in ruins
Iprogress
heard theas we passed.
distinct sound ofThe area
canon fireisand
known for the
seconds laterrebel
saw the activity
impactagainst
on the the PRI ruling
mountain in the
party. Whileoftouring
background the ruins
the pictures I heard
below. The impactthe distinct soundofofdust
sent a plume canon fire
in the air.and seconds later
saw the impact on the mountain in the background of the pictures below. The impact

MYSTERY RUINS
The idea of ancient ruins at
Tingamboto was first met with
skepticism. But the locals knew
there was something under a
couple of odd shaped hills located
among an avocado orchard. And
occasional finds of old ax heads
and figurines on the ground
confirmed their suspicions. The
town of Tingambato held the
secret for 100 years until formal
surveys were conducted in 1977.
Even then they resisted the
intrusion.
The photo above is taken from a postcard of Tingambato.
Notice the child running mid stride along the playing field. What emerged from the ground
It’s my habit of duplicating shots from books and was the ruins of an unknown and
postcards. It’s sort of a way to say I was right there. In forgotten civilization about the
duplicating this shot, I tried to coax my wife to run across same age as Teotihuacan -City of
the field in the same way as the child in the postcard. But the Gods - near Mexico. The
because the extreme heat, she adamantly refused. Since I similarity in the architecture was
had the shot already lined up I took some pictures anyway. unmistakable. The age of the
Once I got the film developed I saw what I had. It hardly Tingambato ruins are estimated to
registered in my mind that when I took the photograph, be between 1,000 to 500 AD.,
someone had been running across the filed in almost the coinciding precisely with
exact right spot. Teotihuacan located some 250
miles away.

The discovery included pyramid

and a sunken plaza used as a ball
field, similar to ones found
elsewhere. The losers were
usually sacrificed to the gods,
but the honor was so great
sometimes the winners
volunteered.