The Mexican plateau is a land of volcanoes and lakes, desert areas and fertile valleys. The Valley of Mexico is located in the southern part of the plateau, at an altitude of about 2200 meters above sea level, surrounded by mountains of volcanic origin whose altitude reaches up to 5000 meters. This area has been the stage of dramatic rises and falls of many cultures throughout several millennia, which can be classified as some of the most vibrant in human history.
Although there are some indicators that suggest their much greater age, official archaeology believes that the Mesoamerican cultures existed within the following time frames:
Olmecs: 1200 BC – 400 BC
Teotihuacán: 100 BC – 750 AD
Maya: 250 AD – 1460 AD
Zapotecs: 500 BC – 800 AD
Toltecs: 950 AD – 1150 AD
Aztecs: 1325 AD – 1521 AD
The most important centers of civilization that emerged in this valley were Teotihuacán, Tula, and Tenochtitlán.
Teotihuacán, which means “City of the Gods” in the Nahuatl language, is the oldest known urban center in western Polynesia. Unknown civilization of pre-Columbian America became the dominant power in Central America for centuries. The Aztecs called it the “navel of the world.”
This magnificent capital city, with hundreds of pyramid-shaped structures, belongs to a civilization unknown to us. The Teotihuacan pyramids can be compared in size and extraordinary architectural skill to the pyramids of Egypt, and its advanced culture strongly influenced all the cultures and civilizations that later developed in this area. Teotihuacán still remains a mystery, and the only thing that is known for certain is that it experienced a sudden decline in the mid-8th century. The cause of this decline is unknown, although it is undoubtedly attributed to the invasions of the Chichimec, barbarian tribes from the north, who swept across civilized Mexico like floods.
The fall of Teotihuacán marked the beginning of a period of wars and political fragmentation throughout Central America. The disappearing culture of Teotihuacán, including their religion, architecture, and social organization, was adopted and transmitted by succeeding cultures. descendants of the Chichimecs – the Toltecs.
One of the seven figures of Chac Mool found in Tula, which is the only one that is fully preserved.
A depiction of Quetzalcoatl, also from Tula.
The Toltec Empire
The Toltecs have been preserved from oblivion primarily in Aztec, but also Mayan songs and legends that were recorded by the local population or by the Spanish chronicler Fray Bernardino de Sahagun after the Spanish conquest. The information collected by Sahagun speaks of the Toltecs as great artists, palace builders, painters, sculptors “who infused their godly heart into their works”, inventors of feather art, skilled doctors, experts in finding and working precious stones, skilled in all crafts, knowledgeable in astrology and the art of dream interpretation, and eloquent astronomers… Their fame was so great in the eyes of other peoples of Central America that they became legendary, although recent archaeological findings confirm their historical background. of many legends.
A legend says that at the beginning of the 10th century, a group of barbarians from the northwest borders of Mexico arrived in the Mexican Valley and were collectively called Chichimeci. Led by the legendary Mixcoatl, they first settled in Culhuacan, located a few kilometers south of present-day Mexico City. His son and successor Ce Acatl Topiltzin was the first historical figure of Mexico, although his name gained mythical significance. Topiltzin, as the ruler and high priest of the cult of the god Quetzalcoatl, was given the name Quetzalcoatl, a generic name that was carried by priest-rulers of that time. However, this seemed to have caused quite a confusion in the records created after the arrival of the Spanish conquerors, making it difficult to distinguish historical facts from myth.
Around 950 AD, Topiltzin relocated the capital to Tollan, or Tula in Spanish. Unlike the first major wave of Chichimec immigrants, legends and archaeology show that the second wave of settlers in Tula, known as the Nonoalca, came from the south. The east and it was highly civilized. It is assumed that these were surviving inhabitants of Teotihuacán or some other city that managed to preserve elements of the Teotihuacán civilization after the Chichimec attack. The Nonoalca taught the immigrants from the north various skills; at the same time, they introduced the worship of Quetzalcoatl, the Feathered Serpent, who became the main deity of Tula, originally hailing from Teotihuacán.
View of the pyramid and atlantes.
An atlante figurine found in one of the shrines in Tula.
In the year 1000, they also penetrated the Yucatan and conquered cities where the late Maya civilization still flourished. The book Chilam Balam (translated as “Jaguar Prophecies”) speaks of the Toltecs’ arrival in Yucatan. The Popol Vuh, the great epic of the Quiche Maya from the Guatemalan highlands, also mentions the Toltec conquest of their people and confirms the arrival of the Toltecs from Tulan Zuiva, or Tula in the west. These texts mention that the Mayans were led for a time by a man who came from Tula and took over the Maya civilization. Name for Quetzalcoatl – Kukulkan or Gucumatz.
The most representative traces of Toltec presence in Yucatan are found today in the city of Chichen Itza, where the Toltecs created a new, recognizable style called Mayan-Toltec. Chichen Itza is a Mayan city, but many signs indicate that the Toltecs ruled over it: stone walls carved in the shape of snakes, columns formed from snake bodies with heads at ground level, numerous warrior friezes, Chac Mool figures, jaguar representations, Atlantean columns, and butterflies as decorations on the warriors’ chests. One historical curiosity is associated with these Yucatecan Toltecs: they were the people who resisted the Spanish conquerors the longest. The Spanish famously subdued the Itza tribe only in 1697.
Tula
The Toltecs placed their capital about 100 km northwest of present-day Mexico City in Teotlalpan, an area that connects to the Valley of Mexico. Teotlalpan means “Land of the gods” in the Nahuatl language. Pre-Spanish Tula stands on a hill that overlooks. Today we will talk about the archaeological site of ancient Tula de Allende. The site covers approximately 13 km². However, the preserved remains do not give a hint of what the vivid Aztec legends describe: a miraculous city where reeds grew abundantly, creating an impression of luxury, with beautiful buildings whose walls were covered in gold, silver, coral, shells, and feathers. Only stone columns and reliefs with armed warriors, jaguars, coyotes, and eagles remain, which speak of the warrior spirit of this people.
A view from the pyramid of the so-called Palace.
On the platform are the Atlanteans – giant stone columns of warriors, standing at a height of 4.6 m, built from four stacked stone blocks interconnected by wedges. Such pillars are distinctly Toltec and wherever they are found, they indicate Toltec influence. It is believed that they once stood at the entrance of the temple, supporting a wooden roof that has been destroyed. They represent There are warriors who carry a weapon called an atlatl or spear thrower in their right hand, and a spear in their left hand, while a round shield is attached to their back. They have a butterfly depiction (symbol of the soul) on their chest, and the buckle on their decorated belt symbolized the Sun. Their caps were adorned with quetzal bird feathers, and their footwear featured figures of feathered snakes representing Quetzalcoatl, the Feathered Serpent.
The most enigmatic archaeological remains of Tula are the Chac Mools, carved stone figures in a semi-reclining position with their heads turned to the left. They hold stone altars on which flower petals were laid in honor of the gods, and during times of decadence and sacrifice, in the shape of a human heart.
The Fall of Tula
In the mid-12th century, in another wave of Chichimec incursions from the north, Tula was destroyed and burned. The barbarians merely hastened its end, and the actual reason for its downfall were internal disagreements. Some archaeologists attribute the cause of its demise to the discord between the Chichimec Toltecs and the Nonoalca; others, however, claim that the reasons were social and economic in nature. It is said that Tula was torn apart by a religious conflict between the worshippers of the god Quetzalcoatl on one side and the followers of the warrior god Tezcatlipoca on the other side, which soon led to the inevitable end of the Toltec empire.
The depiction of a bearded warrior emerging from the jaws of a coyote made of terracotta and covered in mother-of-pearl scales.
In the continuation of the legend, more specifically according to one of its numerous variations, Topiltzin-Quetzalcoatl sailed out to the ocean on a raft made of intertwining snakes, while according to another version, he ascended to the sky and transformed into the Morning Star. Before his departure, he announced his return from the place where the Sun rises and precisely determined the date that corresponded to the year 1519 in the European calendar. Thus, there remained hope among the people that one day he would return, to save his people and initiate a new era. On the day of the prophesied return of Quetzalcoatl to the land of Mexico, the first conquistadors arrived…
Emerging in the chaos that followed the fall of Teotihuacan, the Toltecs relatively quickly adopted the culture. In one highly civilized but dying society, they expanded throughout all of Mexico. It can be said that they took over the Teotihuacan torch and quickly ignited many fires across Central America, thus passing the flame onto the Aztecs, the next and final great civilization in this area, who claimed to be the descendants of this legendary people. Therefore, the Toltecs are rightly called true guardians of the ancient Mexican tradition.