Cuetlajuchitlán is a Mesoamerican archaeological site located 3 kilometers southeast of Paso Morelos, in the northeast of the Mexican state of Guerrero. It was discovered in 1991 during construction work for the highway from Cuernavaca to Acapulco, which now crosses under the site 50 meters below, through the Los Querendes tunnel. This site was one of the main pre-Hispanic population centers in this region during the late preclassical, of groups deriving from the Mezcala culture, in the large settlements of the Rio Balsas. Its development occurred from 800 BCE to 300 CE, with relevance to archaeology of the Guerrero state, due to its antiquity and functional architectural style, primarily for the storage and drainage systems, as well as the construction of stone columns. Toponymy Paso Morelos was formerly known as Cuetlajuchitlán or Cuetlajuchi. The word Cuetlajuchitlán formerly given to the original population, and now used for the archaeological site, is a Nahuatl word that means: "Place of red flowers" or "Withered place". It may be that the "red flower" is in allusion to Poinsettia, native to the region. Archaeological site The site is about 35 hectares in size, of which only two have been explored; sites already uncovered are located on a limestone hill, where the late Preclassical period settlements were found. Cuetlajuchitlán, during its apogee had three constructive stages, over a period of about 900 years. First stage Very few archaeological remains were found in excavation from the first stage (800-600 BC). This stage is characterized by limestone rock walls that make up leveling platforms as well as housing foundation, with figurines and some pots found. These materials show that the site was then a small village - perhaps dependent on a larger Olmec-related culture (Mezcala) settlement in the Balsas River region during the mid-preclassical era (800-1000 BCE), or, as it seems more likely, that it was inhabited by people who settled here around 600 BCE, at the decline of the Olmec sites. Second stage During the period of 200 BCE to 200 CE, Cuetlajuchitlán flourished; this is characterized by the abundance of ceramic objects, which were dated to the late preclassical period; also found in one of the corridors were sculptures carved on Tuff blocks, worn out by time. From this begins the architectural development of the site, with limestone blocks and cylinders carved for its construction in columns and walls, all very well defined in its manufacturing.