FINDING LOST CIVILIZATIONS This

Epilogue:Returning to ZacualpanThe thread of lost civilizations has woven its threadupon the path that my father and I have followed forseveral years. We have often walked upon the ashes of thepast with a sense of familiarity and it has always pained usto see this thread become thinner and thinner as we haveMy father and I traveled with great anticipation toZacualpan to return to the sacred site where the lost Tecoxquinecivilization had once thrived. I was eager to visit theancient petroglyphs and worship spots, which were situatedat the bottom of a small hill below Pablo’s cow pasture locatedbehind the town cemetery. As we drove up to the areawe immediately saw that a large metal corral had been constructedadjacent to Pablo’s pasture and that acres of landhad been scraped clear by a bulldozer to make way for newseen in Zacualpan, Chacala, Guayabitos, and elsewhere. Asthe coastal zone of Nayarit from Puerto Vallarta to San Blasdevelops, many of these ancient sites have fallen prey tooblivious progress and developers who devote themselvesto the god of profit and the commercialization of what isnow known as the Riviera Nayarit. Let me recount my visitsto the towns of Zacualpan, Chacala, and the Luz Del Mondepetroglyph site.127