Aldama,
also known as Magdalenas, is a Tsotsil village in the Chiapas Highlands located
about 30 km from San Cristóbal de Las Casas. The community is part of the so
called Magdalenas Valley, a region where several villages share a deeply
intertwined history expressed, among other things, through weaving.

Aldama's huipiles are made on backstrap looms and are distinguished by their dense geometric brocades, where rhombuses and symbolic figures predominate, in dialogue with ancient Maya designs. Various studies have noted that some of these motifs can be traced back to the Classic Maya period (200–900 AD), demonstrating the extraordinary continuity of this textile tradition.

According to local tradition, it was Saint Mary Magdalene who taught women to weave these elaborate brocades at the beginning of the world. For this reason, some of the community's finest textiles are made to dress the images of saints during patron saint festivals.

Curiosity:

Aldama has been the subject of major
anthropological and textile research since the second half of the 20th century,
including documentation projects linked to universities such as Harvard and to
researchers like Walter Morris, who have highlighted the symbolic complexity of
its brocades.