Tenam Puente archaeological site

It is located in a series of limestone hills, between 1,600 and 1,700 meters above sea level, in the area of the southern border of the Mayan zone. The main period of its occupation corresponds to the Classic and Early Postclassic periods (approximately between 300 and 1200 years of our era).

Its strategic position, on the route that connects the highlands of Chiapas and Guatemala, allowed it to have access to important commercial networks, as evidenced by the presence of objects that came from long distances such as alabaster vessels, seashells and metals. Tenam Puente is a hybrid toponym: Tenam derives from the Nahuatl tenamitl, "fortress", while Puente refers to the name of an old hacienda whose lands today constitute the Francisco Sarabia community. Some sixty structures make up its core zone, which extends over 30 hectares. The importance of Tenam Puente lies in the fact that it represents the transition from the Classic to the Postclassic and one of the least studied stages of Chiapas archaeology.