We explain what the Toltec culture is, its socio -political and economic organization. In addition, its general characteristics, art, mythology and more.
Toltec culture
The Toltec culture It was an ancient Mesoamerican civilization which inhabited the north of the Mexican highlands between 900 d. C. and 1200 d. C.
The main city of the Toltecs was Tollan-Mexicocotitlan (also known as “Tula”) and is believed to be a warrior town that conquered much of the region. His main language was Nahuatlbut there is evidence that the Toltec state was multiethnic (with Otomí and Huasteca population).
The Toltecs They are recognized for their wide influence in other cultures in the regionlike the Maya and the Aztecs. However, for historians and archaeologists they constitute one of the most interesting mysteries of pre -Columbian cultures. For the time of the Spanish conquest, many of the reigning dynasties of American civilizations (such as the Zapotec, the Aztecs and the Quiché) claimed to be descendants of the Toltecs. However, many of the records about the Toltec culture mix mythological elements with data of reality, so its history is difficult to interpret.
See also: Teotihuacan culture
Geographic location of the Toltecs
The Toltecs They inhabited the north of the Mesoamerican regionin the current Mexican states of Zacatecas, Hidalgo and part of Jalisco. It is believed that during the 10th century d. C. emigrated from the northern deserts (which in their mythology called Huehuetlapallan or “old red earth”) to Culhuacán, in the Valley of Mexico.
The borders of his empire were extensive, and Its influence extended to the southeast of the Yucatan Peninsulaand its culture expanded to other peoples of the time, such as the Maya, as evidenced by the Toltec architecture and representations present in Chichen Itzá.
Toltec people history
The history of the Toltecs It has reached us through the Aztecs and the stories that the Spanish conquerors They wrote to meet the American peoples. In these texts historical events are mixed with beliefs and assumptions. However, the analysis of written sources and their comparison with the archaeological remains allowed specialists to know better history and culture.
Although Some of the mythological chronicles claim that the first Toltec ruler dates from the 6th century AD. C.archaeological evidence place the origin of the Toltec culture three centuries later, with the arrival of the town in the Valley of Mexico.
According to the chronicles, under the leadership of King Topiltzin (also called Quetzalcoatl), towards 960 d. C. The Toltecs settled in the city of Tula and turned it into its capital. The rise of the Toltec civilization with capital in Tula lasted up to 1156 d. C., when the power was overthrown and the city plunged into a deep crisis for internal disputes.
The last stage of its history began when Huemac, the last king of the Tolteca dynasty, moved the capital to Chapultepec. After his death, about 1162 d. C., the end of the independence of the royal dynasty and the fall of the Toltec Empire was given. During the following century, Toltec influence and power declined, when different barbarian peoples penetrated the region from the north and attacked the cities of the central area of the Valley of Mexico.
Political and Social Organization of the Toltecs
The Toltec society was deeply militarist. The Toltecs They obeyed a warrior monarchy legitimized by religious beliefs. The ruling elite was made up of warriors, officials, priests and hierarchs, government managers, state organization, military expansion and religious ceremonies.
The rest of the population composed of farmers and ex officio workers such as artisans, potters, carpenters and spinning. Under the social scale, slaves werewhich were captured from the peoples subjected to military victories.
Toltec monarchs
The lists of kings who arrived in historians list the rulers of the Toltec people. However, the lists differ from each other and some include data that could not be corroborated with archaeological evidence (such as the existence of the Toltec people prior to the 10th century AD).
From the chronicles of Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxochitl (seventeenth -century chronicler), A list of rulers who were, for the most part, 52 years in power is known. The dating corresponds to a mythological look that positions the Toltec kings in a distant past:
- (Without dating): Huemac. Religious leader during the first Toltec emigration
- 510-562 d. C.: Chalchiutlanetzin
- 562-614 d. C.: Ixtlil Cuechahahuac
- 614-666 d. C.: Huetzin
- 666-718 d. C.: Totepeuh
- 718-770 d. C.: Nacoxoc
- 770-829 d. C.: MITL TLACOMUCHUA
- 829-833 d. C.: Xihuiquenitzin*. This queen ruled the four years between 979 and 1031. At her death, the nobility ruled in her name for 48 years.
- 833-885 d. C.: Iztaccaltzin
- 885-959 d. C.: Topiltzin (Quetzalcoatl)
On the other hand, in the Annals of Cuauhitlan (part of the Chimalpopoca Codex, written in Nahuatl during the 16th century) the following kings are listed:
- (Without dating): Mixcoamatzat
- 869 d. C.-¿?: Huetzin
- ? -887 d. C.: Totepeuh
- 887-923 d. C.: Ihuitimal
- 923-947 d. C.: Topiltzin (Quetzalcoatl)
- 947-983 d. C.: Matlacxochitl
- 983-997 d. C.: Nauhyotzin i
- 997-1025 d. C.: MATLACCOATZIN
- 1025-1046 d. C.: Tlilcoatzin
- 1047-1122 d. C.: Huemac
Toltec myology
Toltec mythology influenced the beliefs of other contemporary and subsequent Mesoamerican cultures, such as the Aztecs and the Maya. Its worldview included a series of central gods such as Quetzalcoatl, Tláloc, Centéotl, Itzlacoliuhque and Tezcatlipoca, to whom they worshiped and offered human sacrifices.
From this culture comes the myth of Quetzalcoatl. This story was appropriate by other cultures, which generated a multiplicity of versions.
In the Toltec worldview, the myth counts the fall of the monarch-God Quetzalcóatl. In its origin, Quetzalcoatl was a guide of its peoplehe taught his religious arts and crafts and, in addition, reached a deep spirituality. However, through deception, the Tezcatlipoca God showed him in a mirror an image of vanity and immortality and led Quetzalcoatl to make different mistakes that made him fall out of misfortune.
Toltec religion
The Toltec religion was polytheistic, that is, they believed in the existence of multiple gods. They venerated the gods who considered more powerful. Among them were:
- Quetzalcoatl, the feathered snake. He was the most important God of the Toltec culture and in the city of Tula there were thousands of representations with his image. This God represented the physical and spiritual duality of human beings. Many specialists believe that Quetzalcoatl’s myths were created from the ruling Topiltzin (923-947 d. C).
- Tezcatlipoca, the smoking mirror. It represented the mystery and the transformation of things. He had protective nuances but he was also identified as the God who destroyed Quetzalcoatl’s work through deception and manipulation.
- Tlaloc, the god of the storm. The Toltecs took Tlatoc from the Teotihuacan culture and also worshiped him as a warrior and fierce god in battle.
In their veneration to the gods, the Toltecs They practiced religious ceremonies that included human sacrifices. Among the main buildings of the city of Tula were discovered Tzompantlialtars on which human skulls were supported. Within the burned palace and the main temples, archaeologists found Chac Moolsmall statues in human form with a container on which the human hearts of the people who sacrifice were deposited.
Toltec architecture
The archaeological site of the city of Tula shows the splendor of Toltec architecture. In the center of the city were buildings that seem to have shared political and religious functions. These buildings, some of them in the form of pyramids, impact their size, decoration and architectural engineering.
The artistic work on the columns and other temples structures is characteristic of the Toltecs. The “B” of the site is especially knownin which four statues of Toltec warriors (also known as “the Atlanteans”) held the roof. Some archaeologists believe that this building was a sanctuary of private use of the ruling dynasty and that it was dedicated to Quetzalcoatl, in its image of God Guerrero Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli.
In the city Three fields of “ball game” were identifiedgame that different Mesoamerican cultures throughout their history. It is believed that in addition to having entertainment purposes, the game had a sacred role.
In addition to the main pyramids, In the center of the city there was a large building that archaeologists call “burned palace”. It is believed that the ruling family lived there, but some specialists consider that it may have used for religious purposes. The striking thing about this building is its structure and engineering: each of the three rooms that compose it had an open internal patio that fulfilled ventilation functions, light entrance and water collection.
Toltec art and crafts
Toltec artisanal and artistic production It was linked to rituals and religious practice. As in other Mesoamerican cultures, through these pieces the social status was held and the gods were venerated.
One of the main works of the Toltec culture that has endured to this day is the set of Stone or “Atlantean” warriors who still remain in the city of Tulaand that they would have been decorated with mosaics and feathers. These statues were carved into assembled basalt blocks, measure more than 4.5 meters high and held the ceiling of the temple. The warriors are representations of Quetzalcoatl and dress the war costumes, with chest and curved weapons, typical of the Toltec style.
Toltec Economy
The basis of the Toltec economy were agriculture and taxes imposed on the conquered peoples.
Agriculture focused on the cultivation of fields irrigated by a complex channel system. There corn, beans and other characteristics characteristic of the Mesoamerican region were harvested. In addition, some studies indicate that amaranth was a key food in the Toltec diet.
The work of metals, stones and ceramics was done mainly in cities. In addition, through trade and the imposition of taxes to the conquered peoples, the Toltecs obtained those raw materials that were scarce in the region and other luxury goods that allowed them to hold their power.
Toltec influence on other cultures
Many stories about the Toltec people survived through the Aztec oral tradition and their writings of the seventeenth century. However, in these stories The Toltecs are seen as an ideal elevated to the one they should point as a society: a civilized people, distinguished by their wisdom, wealth and power.
According to the Aztecs, the Toltecs They invented all the arts and sacred trades (such as calendar and writing) and were governed by the God Quetzalcoatl. In addition, they believed that their leaders were semidivinos, and argued that the Aztec ruling class descended directly from them. In this way, through mythological stories about the Toltecs, the Aztec elite legitimized its power.
From the religious point of view, Quetzalcoatl’s cult spread among other Mesoamerican cultures during the rise of the Toltec civilization. In the Mayan city of Chichen Itzá, in addition to other architectural similarities with the city of Tula, a temple dedicated only to the Toltec God Quetzalcoatl was raised.
Toltechity
There is today an interest renewed by the Toltec culture and to recover some of its cultural and religious senses, considered lost inheritance of the Mesoamerican peoples.
However, There are so many discrepancies regarding the interpretation of myths and conserved codicesof the exact location of the Toltec cities and such display of versions of their foundational myths, that this term and this pretensions are held suspiciously by the specialists and academics.
Continue with: Mesoamerica
References
- Davies, Nigel (1980). The Toltec Heritage. University of Oklahoma Press: Norman.
- Adams, R., & Macleod, M. (eds.). (2000). The Cambridge History of the Native Peoples of the Americas. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Adams, Richard (1977): Prehistoric Mesoamerica. Boston: University of Oklahoma Press.
- Duverger, Christian (1999): Mesoamerica, Art and Anthropology. Country: Conaculta-Landucci editors.
- Witschey, WRT, and Brown, C. (2012). Historical Dictionary of Mesoamerica. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press.
