Some of the most advanced pre-industrial civilizations in the world inhabited Mexico.  A number of interesting archeological zones have been discovered around the Lake Chapala area.  While they require a bit of sleuthing to find, they reveal interesting facts about the ancient peoples who populated the area. 

Although some of these sites are merely rocks with engravings on them, others are full-blown temples with ceremonial centres, trading houses, and ball courts.  While not as elaborate as the fabulous sites in the Yucatan and near Mexico City, they nonetheless indicate the breadth of reach of the ancient civilizations that populated this part of the continent thousands of years ago.  Who knows how many more of these sites are just waiting to be (re)discovered?  It is an archeologist’s and artifact hunter’s dream.