📝 Detailed information
🏢 About the local organisation
In the last eleven years, the World Heritage Volunteers (WHV) initiative has grown enormously due to the growing interest and appreciation for the protection and preservation of World Heritage sites. Xochicalco is an archaeological site of the Epiclassic and is one of the most important sites in the country. This place has a great architectural importance, because thanks to it you can know the economic and research activities of that time.
💼 What the programme involves
This year, the volunteers will improve the conditions of the site doing cleaning work in some of the areas of the site museum such as the permanent collection as well as the exhibition area; they will be supporting the staff to give maintenance to the material and tools warehouse and will be collecting inorganic solid waste and separating it. Finally, they will be removing manually noxious flora in pyramidal foundations. Volunteers will interact with local communities with visits and workshops on WHV in the municipality of Temixco. In addition to that, the volunteers will support the educational team of the archaeological zone to prepare material for the summer workshops aimed to raise awareness of local students about the importance of protecting the heritage.
🏠 Accommodation on site
Volunteers will stay in an eco-center with all facilities at disposal. They will cook their meals.
📍 About the location
Xochicalco is an exceptionally well-preserved example of a fortified political, religious and commercial centre from the troubled period of 650–900 that followed the break-up of the great Mesoamerican states such as Teotihuacan, Monte Albán, Palenque and Tikal.
Xochicalco (Nahuatl pronunciation: [ʃot͡ʃiˈkaɬko] (About this soundlisten)) is a pre-Columbian archaeological site in Miacatlán Municipality in the western part of the Mexican state of Morelos. The name Xochicalco may be translated from Nahuatl as "in the house of Flowers". The site is located 38 km southwest of Cuernavaca, about 76 miles by road from Mexico City. The site is open to visitors all week, from 10 am to 5 pm, although access to the observatory is only allowed after noon. The apogee of Xochicalco came after the fall of Teotihuacan and it has been speculated that Xochicalco may have played a part in the fall of the Teotihuacan empire.
The architecture and iconography of Xochicalco show affinities with Teotihuacan, the Maya area, and the Matlatzinca culture of the Toluca Valley. Today the residents of the nearby village of Cuentepec speak Nahuatl.
The main ceremonial center is atop an artificially leveled hill, with remains of residential structures, mostly unexcavated, on long terraces covering the slopes. The site was first occupied by 200 BC, but did not develop into an urban center until the Epiclassic period (AD 700 – 900). Nearly all the standing architecture at the site was built at this time. At its peak, the city may have had a population of up to 20,000 people.
ℹ️ Additional information
3500 pesos (160 euros); includes meals and lodging within the community, local transportation and administrative costs.
