TEXCOCO.- Three important archaeological sites in Texcoco have undergone a new round of conservation and rehabilitation work as part of a broader Mexican government initiative aimed at improving archaeological zones and museums open to the public.

The National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) reported that Tetzcotzinco, Huexotla and Los Melones received restoration and maintenance work supported by an investment of more than 3.7 million pesos.

The three sites preserve important traces of Acolhua culture and offer a window into the political, architectural and hydraulic sophistication of the region before the Spanish conquest.

“Investing in heritage is a public responsibility,” Mexico’s Secretary of Culture, Claudia Curiel de Icaza, said. She added that the funding was intended not only to conserve the remains, but also to create better conditions for visitors to understand Texcoco’s Acolhua legacy.

The work formed part of the government’s Program for the Renovation, Rehabilitation and Improvement of Archaeological Zones and Museums. The initiative also included nine other pre-Hispanic sites in the State of Mexico, among them Teotihuacan, Malinalco, Chimalhuacán and Tenayuca, as well as the National Museum of the Viceroyalty in Tepotzotlán.

According to Nahúm Noguera Rico, director of INAH’s office in the State of Mexico, it is the first time such a broad group of heritage sites open to the public has been addressed simultaneously.

Tetzcotzinco and the legacy of Nezahualcóyotl

Among the three Texcoco sites, Tetzcotzinco received some of the most extensive attention.

Also known as the “Baths of Nezahualcóyotl,” Tetzcotzinco had not undergone rehabilitation on this scale since the 1980s, according to archaeologist Rosalba Aguilera Muñoz, who heads the archaeological project.

The site contains canals, pyramidal platforms, rock shelters, pools, stairways and other architectural elements associated with one of the most significant hydraulic systems of the pre-Columbian period. The complex is believed to have been developed between approximately 1250 and 1521 CE.

Its elaborate waterworks may have served purposes that extended well beyond the practical distribution of water.





Because several pools occupy elevated natural viewpoints overlooking the former lake basin, researchers have proposed that parts of the complex may also have been used for rituals, recreation and possibly therapeutic activities by members of the elite.

Recent conservation work at Tetzcotzinco included the removal of graffiti, the injection of lime-and-sand mortar, the replacement of missing stone in walls and stairways, repairs to joints and the installation of protective floor layers. Teams also carried out general cleaning, pruning and measures to control microorganisms.

Conservation work at Huexotla

At Huexotla, a settlement contemporary with Tetzcotzinco, specialists worked on four of the site’s seven surviving architectural platforms: La Estancia, La Comunidad, the Temple of Ehécatl and Santa María Grande.

The interventions included replacing stone elements, consolidating plaster surfaces, repairing joints and removing invasive vegetation.

Additional improvements focused on the visitor infrastructure. The perimeter fencing was renewed, while the service building received repairs to its roof tiles and plaster surfaces, as well as treatment of cracks and joints. The facility was repainted, its furnishings were replaced and its plumbing and sanitary systems were rehabilitated.

Stabilizing the remains at Los Melones

Los Melones, a residential complex dating from the same general period, also received conservation work.

The site preserves sections of walls, structural foundations and the remains of a central room. Its architecture is notable for an earthen core faced with carefully worked masonry made from black and red tezontle, a volcanic stone widely used in central Mexico.

Conservation teams reintegrated stone elements, repaired joints and restored two walls that had begun to lose cohesion.

Together, the projects form part of a wider effort to keep archaeological heritage in active public use while addressing the gradual deterioration caused by weather, vegetation, microorganisms and decades of exposure.

For INAH, the work is as much about maintaining the physical remains as it is about keeping the history of Texcoco visible and accessible to the communities that live around them today.