ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors attempt a synthesis of most salient characteristics and regional peculiarities of Preceramic occupations of north of Michoacan and the northern edge of the Neovolcanic Axis west of the Basin of Mexico. In the north-central Michoacan, two rockshelters excavated in the 1990s provided the first tangible data on Paleoindian and Archaic occupations in the state. In the western part of the Neovolcanic Axis, in the region immediately west of Lake Chapala, various data also point to Preceramic occupations. Only one incomplete specimen from western Mexico seems close to it, a basalt point with the proximal end broken off, held in a local museum collection. Among the most notable traits in Michoacan are blade removal and pressure retouch techniques of the La Garza phase and the emergence of grinding instruments in the Palomo phase. MacNeish’s longstanding intuition thus appears to be vindicated by comparison of the two sites, even if further research is needed to substantiate hypotheses.
