Cerro de los Burros, Archaeological mountain site near Playa Hermosa, Uruguay

Cerro de los Burros is a densely vegetated hill rising 171 meters above sea level near Playa Hermosa, part of the Cuchilla Grande range. Its slopes are covered with thick scrub that makes the climb difficult. The summit offers views of the surrounding coastline and countryside.

Archaeological work began in the 1950s, and from the 1970s Ugo Meneghín of the Museo Nacional de Historia Natural studied four deposits on the hill, analysing 15,000 stone artefacts. The fish-tail projectile points, knapped from local purplish-brown rhyolite, are estimated at 12,000 years old by comparison with dated South American finds. The hill was declared a national historical monument in May 2014.

The name Cerro de los Burros refers to the donkeys owned by Francisco Piria that grazed on its slopes; it is also called Cerro de la Virgen. In 2011 a neighbourhood commission was founded to protect the hill's archaeological heritage, flora and fauna. In 2014 it was declared a National Historical Monument.

The hiking paths are accessible from Avenida 25 Metros and lead visitors on a round-trip walk to the summit and back in roughly 90 minutes. Wearing comfortable hiking boots and watching the weather is helpful, since the slopes can become slippery after rain.

The archaeologist Ugo Meneghín, linked to Uruguay's Museo Nacional de Historia Natural, began fieldwork here in the 1970s and after two decades classified the hill as a lithic workshop of specialised hunters. He analysed 15,000 artefacts from four deposits, including the riolite fish-tail points.