Cantona (Mesoamerican site)

Cantona is a relatively unknown Mesoamerican archaeological site in Mexico. It is located in the state of Puebla, on the border with Veracruz, about an hour's drive from the city of Puebla and about an hour and a half from Xalapa, Veracruz. Limited archaeological work has been done at the site, and only about 10% of the site can be seen.

Heavily fortified, Cantona sat astride an old trading route between the Gulf Coast and the Central Highlands and was a prominent, if isolated, Mesoamerican city between 600 and 1000 AD. [Day, p. 73.] Twenty four ballcourts have been documented at Cantona, as well as a number of small pyramids. The Zaragoza obsidian source is located nearby.

Cantona is unusual among archaeological sites in Mexico as all of its architecture was built with dry-laid stones. Mortar was not employed, and it is the weight of the stones that holds the structure together.

Notes

References

* |year=2001 |chapter=Performing on the Court|title=The Sport of Life and Death: The Mesoamerican Ballgame |editor=E. Michael Whittington (Ed.) |publisher=Thames & Hudson |location=New York |pages=pp.65-77 |isbn=0-500-05108-9
*Garcia Cook, Angel, and Beatriz Leonor Merino Carrion (1998) Cantona: Urbe Prehispanica en el Altiplano Central de Mexico. "Latin American Antiquity" 9:191-216

External links

* [http://www.mexicodesconocido.com.mx/english/historia/prehispanica/detalle.cfm?idsec=1&idsub=10&idpag=1821 Cantona, the Fortifed City]
* [http://www.delange.org/Cantona/Cantona.htm Cantona Archaeological Ruins]