Sierra Gorda Part 5: The Ancient Huastec City of Tancama and its Plaza el Mirador

Edificio de las Mariposas de Cobre is the largest and most important structure. The name means "Building of the Copper Butterflies".  This pyramid looms over the Plaza de Mirador ("Lookout Plaza"). It stands at the very southern end, and highest point, of the ancient Huastec city of Tancama, The pyramid was actually much larger in pre-hispanic times, but much of its stonework was removed for building materials after the Spanish arrived. Even so, it is still an impressive structure.

In Part 4 of this series, I took you through some of the history, culture, and artistic creations of the Huastecs. They are a people who have continuously populated the region called the Huasteca from around 1100 BC until today. Parts 5 through 8 will focus on the ruins of Tancama, which was the main Huastec city in the Sierra Gorda. 

Overview

Google map of the route from Jalpan to the Tancama Archeological Zone. For directions from the Lago de Chapala / Guadalajara area to Jalpan, see Part 1 of this series. From Jalpan, take Highway 120 west toward Xilitla about 10km (6.2mi). For a Google interactive map showing how to get from the pueblo of Tancama to the ruins, click here.

Site map of the Tancama ruins. The city was built sometime before 500 AD during the Early Classic period. It stands on the slopes of a mountain that the Huastecs called Tancama, which means "Hill of Fire" or "Place of Flint". The city has a south to north orientation along a ridge that drops down in a series of steps. Each of the descending steps was leveled by the pre-hispanic people into a separate plaza. The Plaza de Mirador is the highest level and can be found at the bottom, or south end, of the map above. Next down the hill is Plaza Santiago and then Plaza de la Promesa. 

Part 5 of my series will focus on the large, north-facing building called the Edificio de las Mariposas de Cobre located at the very bottom of the map. In addition, we'll take a look at the four structures on the west side, called Los Cuatro Huastecos (the Four Huastecos).  Part 6 will cover the ball court in the center of the Plaza, as well as the structures on its north and east sides. Parts 7 and 8 will show Plazas Santiago and Plaza de la Promesa.

Edificio de las Mariposas de Cobre

View of the pyramid, looking east down the front (north) side. The four-stepped pyramid was built facing north, onto the Plaza. There is one broad staircase on the north side that once extended up to the fourth level. However, much of the stonework of the staircase was removed. Above the first level, there is only a grassy slope covered with scattered trees. The interior of the pyramid was constructed with rounded river stones, while the surface of the exterior is covered with cut stones. The wall in the upper right has even more finely cut stones.

Archeologists estimate that the pyramid lost about two-thirds of its volume due the looting of its materials. The current height of the structure is 7.5m (24.6ft), but it may have once been significantly higher. Whether there was a temple on top is unknown. However, if there was, it most likely would have been constructed with perishable materials such as wood with a thatched roof and has therefore long since vanished. 

The central staircase only has five remaining steps. They are bracketed with stone balustrades. Above the fifth step, the people who reconstructed the staircase built a retaining wall to prevent any collapse. Traces of the balustrades extend all the way up to the fourth level. This indicates that the stairs originally extended all the way up. In front of the bottom step are two stelae (standing stones). The meaning of these is unknown. However, in the ruins of other civilizations, I have seen stelae sculpted with markings that commemorated important events such as royal births, deaths, accessions to power or military victories.

These copper butterflies were found in the pyramid and gave the building its name. The earrings are beautifully crafted so that the butterflies appear to be feeding on the nectar of the copper flowers from which they dangle. The butterfly earrings were found in a burial containing several human remains in the upper part of the pyramid. Given the importance of the structure, and the craftsmanship of the earrings, the individuals in the tomb must have been part of the highest level of the social elite.

Butterflies held great symbolic meaning in pre-hispanic times. They appear in wall murals at Teotihuacan and on statues of Toltec warriors, who wear butterfly-shaped breastplates. The Aztecs believed butterflies carried the souls of warriors who were either killed in battle or sacrificed, or of women who died in childbirth. Live butterflies were sometimes used as a form of tribute and skilled craftsmen often created butterfly ornaments or jewelry. 

It is significant that the earrings were made of copper, rather than jade, obsidian or some other natural material. By smelting copper, and making useful objects from it, the Huastecs had entered into the early stage of the Chalcolithic (copper) Age. This period was the transition between the Neolithic (New Stone Age) and the Bronze Age. 

Along the eastern side of the pyramid is the Callejon (alleyway). This was the main entrance into the Plaza de Mirador, an area usually restricted to the elite. The low stone structure on the left side of this entrance corridor is called the Edificio del Callejon. It is unclear whether this structure had some purpose other than to simply create an eastern border to the walkway. 

To the left (east) of this structure, the land drops off fairly steeply, creating a natural barrier along the border of the elite area. During some important occasions, common people may have been allowed into the restricted areas. One such occasion might have been a ball game played on the court located in the center of the Plaza de Mirador. If so, the common people would have entered through the Callejon.

Los Cuatro Huastecos

A large circular huasteco stands to the west and slightly north of the pyramid. This one is called Edificio de los Muertos (Building of the Dead). It gets its name from the large number of human remains buried within it. Whether they died of natural causes or were sacrificed is not clear. This huasteco is one of four that form the west side of the Plaza. In addition to these, I have identified at least six more huastecos scattered among the plazas of Tancama. 

Huastecos are a distinguishing feature of other Huastec cities, as well as Tancama. These include Tamtoc, Tancol, and Tamuin (all in the state of San Luis Potosí). At Tancama, they have from two to four stepped levels, with a base level that is sometimes circular, but also may be semi-circular, square or rectangular. The upper levels are always circular and the topmost levels form broad flat platforms. 

Map of Los Cuatro Huastecos. The huastecos on the west side of the Plaza form an arc. Beginning on the left (south) is Edificio de los Muertos and then Edificio de la Culebre Azul (Blue Snake). Next comes Edificio del Patojo (Duck) and finally Edificio de las Espinas Mantarrayas (Manta Ray Spines). Each of these was named according to what was found when they were excavated. 

When I first saw the huastecos, I suspected that their shape was connected to the god of wind, known as Ehecatl. In most pre-hispanic cities, the important structures are rectangular or square, with each side facing in one of the four sacred directions (north, south, east, west). Edificio de las Mariposas de Cobre conforms to this pattern. 

However, since the wind can come from any direction, temples devoted to the worship of Ehecatl are circular in shape. Over the years, I have found similarly shaped temples at Xochitécatl, a Pre-Classic city, the Classic-era site called Guachimontones, and  the Post-Classic Aztec city of Calixtlahuaca. All of their circular temples were devoted to some version of the wind god.

View of the Edificio de los Muertos (foreground) and Edificio de la Culebre Azul. This shot was taken from the top of the Copper Butterfly pyramid. Los Muertos has four levels with a circular base, while La Culebra Azul has two levels and a semi-circular base. The wind god was worshiped in Mesoamerica for a very long time, dating back at least to the Olmec period (1500 BC - 400 BC). 

However, the name Ehecatl is from Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs. The Aztecs were one of the last groups who migrated from the far north into central Mexico, arriving during the 13th century AD. They were cultural sponges and soaked up the customs of the various cultures they encountered, much like the Romans adopted many styles, customs, and gods of ancient Greece (the Greek Zeus became the Roman Jupiter).

When the Aztecs invaded and conquered the Huasteca, they adopted the Huastecs' wind god and renamed him Ehecatl. They viewed him as a facet of Quetzalcoatl (the Feathered Serpent), another of their adopted gods, and built a number of circular temples to worship this amalgamation of gods. This process of cultural adoption not only enriched their own culture, but probably was also part of their strategy for the pacification of conquered peoples. 

The flat tops of the huastecos once contained structures made of perishable materials. This drawing is a reconstruction of a structure in the ruins of the Huastec city of Flores in the Tampico-Panuco region. Note the resemblance of the stone base to Edificio de los Muertos. Since the styles of architecture were quite similar among Huastec cities, there is every reason to believe that this is how the perishable structures atop Tancama's huastecos once appeared. 

The drawing above shows a strong similarity to the nah (houses) of modern Maya that I saw while visiting Yucatan. It also closely resembles the sculpture of a nah carved onto the facade of the Nun's Quadrangle at the ancient city of Uxmal. The Huastecs had migrated from Guatemala in 1500 BC and their language is a derivative of Proto-Mayan. However, their connection with their cousins in Yucatan and Guatemala was severed by the rise of the Olmecs back in 1200 BC. Even so, the style of their houses and temple-top structures has maintained a close resemblance after 1800 years! (Drawing is from Archeology of the Huasteca: The Ekholm Collection)

Edificio de la Culebra Azul. This huasteco was named after the large number of snakes encountered by the archeologists when they excavated it, no doubt an unnerving experience. There is a staircase on the east side of the circular structure, which probably means that its perishable structure once faced to the east. That is the most important of the sacred directions because it is where the sun rises. 

During their excavations, archeologists discovered evidence that there had been at least two phases of construction. I have not found mention of any human burials within this huasteco. Fortunately, the encounters with the snakes didn't result in any modern human burials either.

Edificio del Patojo. The first two levels of this huasteco are rectangular in shape. It is likely that materials were scavenged from whatever circular level once existed. There is a staircase leading up from the east, similar to the one at La Culebra Azul. The staircase faces directly into the ball court in the middle of the Plaza. This suggests a relationship between the huasteco and the ball game, perhaps involving ceremonies conducted before or after a game was played. 

The Edificio de Patojo gets its name from this piece of pottery. It was found during the excavation and is said to resemble a duck . The word patojo comes from the Spanish pato which means "duck". Oddly, it also means "child" in Honduras and "a limp" in El Salvador. (Photo from Lugares INAH) 

Edificio de las Espinas de Mantarraya. The structure has been mostly looted of materials. It faces south and forms the northwest corner of the Plaza. The remains of a stairway are located halfway down the building's south side, facing into the Plaza. The remains of an individual woman were found buried within the structure. Among her burial goods were several manta ray spines. These were highly valued at the time and probably originated on the Gulf Coast.

Manta ray spines were sometimes used in a ritual practice called "auto-sacrifice" (self- mutilation). Pre-hispanic people thought that life was a gift from the gods. Since blood was vital to life, it was a sacred substance. The shedding of blood, either through sacrificing victims captured in war or through auto-sacrifice, was considered necessary to propitiate the gods. In auto-sacrifice, a person would use a manta ray spine to pierce his own tongue, ear, thigh, arm, or genitals. This produced the blood desired by the gods and pain which sometimes produced an halluncinogenic trance. 

This completes Part 5 of my Sierra Gorda series. I hope you have enjoyed it. If so, please leave any thoughts or questions in the Comments section below or email me directly. If you leave a question, please include your email address so that I am able to respond in a timely fashion.

Hasta luego, Jim

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