The Central Mexican Highlands from the Rise of Teotihuacan to the Decline of Tula

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the great ancient city of Teotihuacan, which flourished from about 150 BC to around AD 650. Teotihuacan seems markedly different from many other Mesoamerican societies, and in some ways rather strange compared with non-industrialized complex societies in general. In the neighborhood of Teotihuacan there is an abrupt shift away from the Cuanalan-phase settlement. The chapter discusses the Coyotlatelco and Mazapan occupations of the Basin of Mexico. Recently discovered Cacaxtla murals show the distinctively Maya God L as a merchant and other figures with strong Venus connections. The archaeological site of Tula lies just north of the modern city of Tula de Allende, in Hidalgo. Tula was an important central Mexican city that first rose to prominence after the decline of Teotihuacan, and in turn declined well before the Mexica rose to power. The civic art of Tula is mainly derivable from central Mexican antecedents, but ceramics show many outside affinities.

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