Guilá Naquitz Cave, Archaeological cave in Oaxaca Central Valley, Mexico

Guilá Naquitz is a cave at the base of a cliff rising 300 m above a semiarid valley floor at 1,926 m, at the eastern end of the Oaxaca Valley. Its entrance measures 8 by 10 m, and excavations reached five strata up to 140 cm deep. The pale grey rock face beside the dark triangular opening is mottled with lichen and partly covered by vegetation.

Research in the 1960s revealed that people first visited the cave approximately 10,750 years ago as part of their seasonal movement patterns. Hunter-gatherers left behind tools and other objects across the layers, documenting their long-term relationship with the site.

The cave's name comes from Zapotec, and its occupation was seasonal: pre-ceramic hunter-gatherers camped there only from August to October–December, when nearby grasslands offered acorns, prickly pear, agave and mesquite pods. Excavations by Kent V. Flannery's Michigan team in the 1970s recovered the squash rinds and peduncles behind the domestication dates.

The site lies about 5 kilometers northwest of Mitla and can be visited as part of the larger archaeological complex that includes the Yagul ruins nearby. Combining both locations offers a fuller picture of how ancient people used the surrounding landscape.

Scientists discovered squash rinds with increasing thickness dating back about 8,000 years, showing that early inhabitants deliberately bred plants. This represents one of the oldest known examples of humans modifying wild plants through selective cultivation.