TLAXCALA, MEXICO.- More than 15 years of monitoring at the Cacaxtla Archaeological Zone have found no significant deterioration in the site’s celebrated pre-Hispanic mural paintings, according to Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH).
The ongoing conservation program focuses on the 16 murals of Cacaxtla’s Great Platform, including some of the archaeological site’s best-known compositions: The Battle, Bird and Jaguar Warriors, Red Temple and Temple of Venus. The paintings are attributed to the Olmeca-Xicalanca culture and date to the Mesoamerican Epiclassic period, between approximately 650 and 900 CE.
The findings are the result of a long-term effort by Mexico’s Ministry of Culture, INAH and the National Coordination for the Conservation of Cultural Heritage (CNCPC) to document subtle changes in the murals over time.
“Preserving heritage requires knowledge, continuity and scientific work,” Culture Secretary Claudia Curiel de Icaza said. She noted that sustained monitoring allows specialists to anticipate potential risks and make better-informed decisions about the future conservation of the paintings.
The current research is led by CNCPC conservator Mónica Vargas Ramos, working with Jhoanna Rosas Magaña and Omar Valdes Hernández. Their work builds on diagnostic studies conducted between 2009 and 2011 by conservator Diana Medellín Martínez and her team.
Vargas Ramos first became involved with the site in 2019, working alongside conservator Dulce María Grimaldi Sierra. A formal program devoted specifically to the monitoring and evaluation of the painted surfaces began in 2023.
Rather than relying only on visual inspection, the team is using colorimetry and optical microscopy to create a detailed record of the murals’ condition. The measurements allow researchers to compare color saturation, hue and the physical characteristics of the paint layers with data collected during previous studies.
The goal is to determine whether small changes are occurring that might otherwise be difficult to detect with the naked eye.
Researchers are revisiting exactly the same points on the murals that were documented during earlier campaigns and comparing the new readings with records from 2009–2011, 2019 and 2023.
“So far, the team has found no significant variations in color or evidence of instability,” Vargas Ramos said.
The current study is broader than the initial research carried out more than a decade ago. It now includes all of Cacaxtla’s murals and incorporates optical microscopy alongside color measurements, producing a more comprehensive record of their condition.
Beyond documenting Cacaxtla, the project is intended to establish a standardized methodology that can eventually be used at other archaeological sites in Tlaxcala.
Researchers have already begun applying the approach to the polychrome altars at Tizatlán and plan to extend it to the murals of Ocotelulco. The objective is to build a wider record of pre-Hispanic mural painting in the region, documenting both the works’ chromatic characteristics and the techniques used to create them.
Such information could help conservators assess changes over the short, medium and long term and identify threats before visible damage becomes extensive.
The Cacaxtla research is also contributing to the undergraduate thesis of conservator Jhoanna Rosas Magaña, linking the site’s continuing preservation with the training of a new generation of specialists.
José Vicente de la Rosa Herrera, director of the INAH Tlaxcala Center, said the initiative reflects the institution’s commitment not only to preserving the murals but also to making the scientific work behind conservation more visible to the public.
Vargas Ramos has been invited to present the project’s latest findings during the upcoming Cacaxtla Roundtables in September, offering a closer look at how years of measurements, microscopic examination and careful documentation are helping safeguard one of Mexico’s most important surviving ensembles of pre-Hispanic mural painting.
