🏺 Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley: originary habitat of Mesoamerica
UNESCO World Heritage Site and cradle of Mesoamerican agriculture
📋 Fast Facts
- Spans approximately 145,000 hectares across Puebla and Oaxaca states in south-central Mexico
- UNESCO World Heritage Site inscribed in 2018 for cultural and natural significance
- Contains archaeological evidence of crop domestication dating back more than 7,000 years
- Includes the Purrón Dam, one of the oldest known irrigation systems in the Americas, built around 800 BCE
The Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley is a semi-arid landscape in south-central Mexico recognized as the birthplace of agriculture in Mesoamerica. Spanning parts of Puebla and Oaxaca, the valley combines extraordinary archaeological significance with exceptional biodiversity, making it a mixed cultural and natural World Heritage Site. Its caves, irrigation systems, and living communities document the transition from hunter-gatherer societies to settled agricultural civilizations and the domestication ...