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Looking for another amazing adventure that is off the beaten track? Visit
“Las Labradas” (The Stone Carvings) just an hour north of Mazatlan. There,
on the beaches of a small port named Barra de Piaxtla in San Ignacio county
you will find many abstract and symbolic stone carvings as old as 1,000-1,500
years. Formally known as “petroglyphs,” these carvings are artistic and
religious expressions of a people that lived long ago right here in Sinaloa.
These people were the Toltec Indians, who thrived in Central Mexico from
the 10th to the 12th century AD. They spoke Nahuati and the name Toltec
means “urbanite,” ”cultured,” and literally “the reed people.” Their major
urban center was Toltan which was located about 50 miles north of Mexico
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The petroglyphs
are considered a form of communication with the Godsand usually in the context
of a specific ritual or ceremony asking for rain or a good harvest. Petroglyphs
have been found in hundreds of sites in northern Mexico and southern USA.
It is thought that these stone carvings were also a form of recording and
transmitting cultural beliefs, history, and abstract ideas from one generation
to another. Over time the Toltecs mixed with other peoples and towns. In
the 19th century the region became very important for mining gold. To get
there take Route 211 north towards Culiacan and at approximately km 75 before
arriving at Dimas you will find a dirt road in good condition off to the
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