Late Formative archaeological culture centered on the type site of Chupícuaro near Acámbaro, Guanajuato, on the Lerma River at the northern edge of Mesoamerica. Known for red-on-buff and black-on-cream pottery and distinctive hollow and solid ceramic figurines; often grouped with West Mexican cultures despite its proximity to the Valley of Mexico.
The type site itself was flooded in the 1940s by construction of the Presa Solís dam before full excavation. The culture's population and craft traditions are thought to have dispersed into or influenced later West Mexican shaft-tomb societies and the Basin of Mexico as Teotihuacan rose to regional dominance.
Standard English-language survey of West Mexican archaeology that treats Chupícuaro as a key Late Formative culture bridging West Mexico and the Basin of Mexico.