(VIDEO) Hidden Treasure near San Miguel with Albert Coffee [] Rotary Club Program

Rotary Club of San Miguel de Allende
– Rotario Midday, A.C. –

Hidden Treasure near San Miguel
Albert Coffee
Guest Speaker

Recorded: Tuesday January 19, 2020

YouTube Link: https://youtu.be/XUDW1ZTJ2V8

One of Mexico’s best-kept secrets, the Cañada de la Virgen archaeological zone opened to the public in February of 2011. Since then, our speaker, Prof. Albert Coffee, has taken over 20,000 people on his academic-level introduction to the pre-Hispanic history of Mexico through visits to the site which he was invited to help excavate. The site itself is a testament to the mathematical, astronomical and architectural genius acquired over thousands of years by its builders and their ancestors. Occupied between 540 and 1050 A.D., the site held ceremonial spaces, elite residences, burial grounds and time keeping instruments that are aligned precisely to the movements of the celestial bodies. The site was also a pilgrimage destination for common people who brought in tribute to the elite astronomer priests who lived and died there and used the place as a refuge, an observatory and possibly even an astronomy school.

The archaeological zone located just 15 minutes southwest of San Miguel de Allende is where Albert, a graduate of Louisiana State University, was invited to help excavate during the 2004 field season. This experience as well as his work in locating and documenting sites in areas like coastal Oaxaca and a career in teaching both language and social sciences throughout Mexico have made him one of the most qualified guides to Cañada de la Virgen as well as to other archaeological sites

Professor Coffee offers guided tours of San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato City, Dolores Hidalgo, Mineral de Pozos, Atotonilco, the Indigenous Chapels and other colonial sites, as well as other immersive cultural and ecological experiences throughout the region and throughout all of Mexico.

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