Puebla Part 15: Cacaxtla's Venus Temple and the Battle Murals

The Bird Priest in Cacaxtla's North Platform. This is a detail of one of Cacaxtla's most striking murals. Standing on either side of a doorway are two figures who may be priests or rulers. One is dressed as a bird, the other as a jaguar. The juxtaposition of birds and jaguars is also found in the great battle murals which line the central plaza of the city. In the mural above, a tall figure wears a head dress in the shape of a bird's beak and flowing wings attached to his shoulders and upper arms. He is richly dressed, and carries in his arms a large shaft whose lower end is a gaping snake's mouth. These are the oldest mural paintings in Mesoamerica featuring human figures who share features from a variety of cultures, including Maya, Totonac, and that of Teotihuacan. They were created by the Olmeca-Xicalancas who inhabited Cacaxtla between 600 AD and 900 AD. This was during the period of Cacaxtla's greatest power. The Bird Priest seen above represents Quetzacoatl, the creator god who taught humans about the arts and agriculture. For the historical background of Cacaxtla and its even older sister city of Xochitécatl, please scroll down to the previous two postings.


The Venus Temple

The Venus Temple contains two dancers, a male and a female. The Venus Temple is found on the west side of the Gran Basamente, the great platform on which Cacaxtla rests. A male and a female dancer can be seen on two parallel supporting structures.

The male dancer is the least damaged of the two. He is naked from the waist up, but wears short pants of jaguar skin, and a kind of flaring skirt over those. The belt holding up his skirt has buckle that is a symbol for Venus, hence the name of the temple. On his ankles he wears dancing rattles. Notice also that he has a scorpion tail which extends behind him between his legs and off to the right side of the column. There is a wicked-looking stinger at the end.

Urn found at Cacaxtla with the figure of a dancer on the side. Notice the similarities between the figure on the urn and the painted dancer.  He wears a similar skirt and rattle anklets and his head dress bears some similarity to the painting. I thought this was a particularly fine piece of pottery

The female dancer also wears a jaguar skin underskirt. Unfortunately, this painting is more damaged than that of the male. Similar to the male figure, she also has an overskirt held up by the Venus symbol. The reference to Venus indicates an astronomical phenomenon or a calendrical date associated with Venus. To the people of this culture, Venus represented warfare and sacrifice.


The Battle Mural

The Battle Mural runs along the north side of the central plaza. It can be seen just under the row of broken pillars in the background. The two halves are separated by a broad staircase in the middle leading up to the North Platform and the temples and ritual rooms it contains. The Battle Mural stretches about 22 meters (72 ft.) along the central plaza's north side. It contains extraordinary scenes of bloody combat and human sacrifice.

Skull found at Cacaxtla. There was no sign indicating whether this was from a sacrifice or a simple burial. There appears to have been plenty of both at Cacaxtla. The city grew up in the wake of the fall of Teotihucan. That great empire had stabilized Mesoamerica for 500 years, and its sudden collapse around 600 AD left a great vacuum of power and authority. Into that vacuum rushed a host of small cities, vying for control of the resources of their areas. Cacaxtla had the good fortune to occupy a key strategic position on the trade crossroads between the Gulf Coast and the inland civilizations, as well as the route leading from the Zapotec civilization around Oaxaca up to the northern high plains. Such a position naturally created conflict with its envious neighbors. Warfare during this period was fierce.

The Battle Mural panels located to the right of the central staircase. The mural dates from the period prior to 700 AD, in the century immediately following Teotihuacan's fall when regional conflicts were at their height. These and other murals were discovered in the 1990s by local looters looking for pots and other objects to sell. Word quickly got out about a major discovery. Because they were buried, the vivid colors of the murals survived for 1100 years after Cacaxtla was abandoned. The Mexican archaeological authorities have left them in place, but otherwise have taken great care that they should not be damaged by weather or vandalism.

Jaguar Warrior spears an Eagle Warrior. The Jaguar Warrior is in the center of the photo above. He carries a round Maya-blue shield and is thrusting his spear point into the chest of an Eagle warrior who is lying down, leaning on his elbows. Military cults associated with Jaguars and Eagles appear in several Mesoamerican civilizations, including the Toltec Empire based in Tollan (Tula), and the Itzá rulers of Chichen Itzá.  These cults reached their peak in the Aztec Empire where they were the elite units who led the fight against Hernán Cortéz.

The dirty work got done with obsidian weapons like these. On the left is a spear point, while the blade on the right may have been part of a long knife or thrusting weapon. Obsidian is volcanic glass, a substance that can be shaped into very sharp tools or weapons. The cutting edge on some obsidian weapons has been found to be many times sharper than modern steel surgical instruments.

Another Jaguar Warrior raises his spear for a deadly thrust. The meaning of the Battle Mural is in dispute among archaeologists. Some see it as a genuine battle, with the Jaguar Warriors apparently emerging victorious. Others believe that the scenes represent a mass human sacrifice, possibly of captives from a battle. The evidence offered for this is that many of the Eagle Warriors appear to be unarmed and are dismembered. What appears to be the head of an Eagle Warrior lies just in front of the left foot of the Jaguar Warrior shown above. I don't have an opinion in this dispute. What seems clear to me is that the Jaguar Warriors represent a victorious and triumphant Cacaxtla. The Battle Mural may portray an actual battle, and ancient cities didn't tend to celebrate their great defeats.

A snarling stucco figure may portray an ancient warrior-ruler. The museum at Cacaxtla contains a number of figures dressed in fantastically complicated garb, like the one shown above.


The Bird and Jaguar Priests

The Bird Priest. This is the full panel containing the Bird Priest, seen in close detail in my first photo of this posting. In addition to the priest and the feathered snake upon which he stands, there are many interesting details to this mural. I wondered about the purpose of implement he holds in his arms, but the sign at the site held no explanation. The border of the panel surrounding the priest contains many further details.

Detail of the Bird Priest mural. Here you an see the serpent, with green/blue feathers along his back. This is a clearly a reference to Quezalcoatl, the famous "feathered serpent", a deity whose origin goes back at least as far as the earliest period of Teotihuacan, around 100 BC. The "business end" of the device held in the priest's arms is the head of another snake, which seems about to devour the head of the feathered serpent. Note also the feet of the priest, represented as the talons of a bird. My interpretation of this scene is that the priest is using the device to intimidate the snake on which he stands, or perhaps as a tool to direct it. This may be intended to emphasize the ability of the priest to make the god do what he wants. Of course, this is only my speculation. I invite anyone who has information about the meaning of this image to leave a comment. Notice the plants and animals along the border below the feathered serpent. There are at least 27 different plants and animals represented in this and the other murals around Cacaxtla.

The Jaguar Priest is both similar and different from the Bird Priest. To the left of the doorway leading to the inner sanctum, facing the Bird Priest, stands the Jaguar Priest. Their postures are similar, and they both carry large shaft devices with which they appear to be directing or influencing the creatures on which they stand. In the mural above, the Jaguar Priest stands upon an elongated jaguar. Jaguars were viewed as powerful symbols throughout Mesoamerica all the way back to the Olmecs. Interestingly, drops of water appear to be cascading from the device down onto the head of the jaguar. Water was a very important element in prehispanic life and, as such, carried very powerful symbolic meanings. Like the Bird Priest, the Jaguar Priest has the feet of an animal, in this case the claws of a jaguar.

Bust of a ruler/priest found at Cacaxtla. The figure, which appears to be speaking, or even shouting, wears an elaborately feathered head dress and a large necklace of some sort.

Hutches to raise animals, but what kinds? Again, there seems to be a dispute among archaeologists about these small stone enclosures. One source holds that they were for raising parrots, whose brightly colored feathers were valuable throughout the ancient world. Another asserts that these are rabbit hutches used to raise food for the noble elite who lived in the Cacaxtla complex. I suppose it is also possible that their use could have changed from one to the other over time.

A figure with the face of a tipsy clown. Although this fellow wears the garb of an important figure, his face is anything but solemn with authority.

Xochitécatl's Pyramid of the Flowers, seen from Cacaxtla's North Platform. This ancient pyramid was built, according to some, as early as 700 BC. It is part of a separate complex that is much older than Cacaxtla. If you missed my Xochitécatl posting, it is Part 13 of this series and you can just scroll down. This photo gives you a sense of the close proximity of the two sites, and of the woods and small fields that surround both. From each site, one has a vast, 360 degree vista of the surrounding valley and volcanos in the distance.

This completes Part 15 of my series on Puebla and is the end of the series itself. My next posting will be entirely different: a whimsical, photo-walk around Ajijic, the Mexican village where I live. I think you'll enjoy the change. If you have any comments on this or any of my other postings, please leave it in the Comments section below or email me directly.

If you leave a question in the Comments section PLEASE leave your email address so I can respond.

Hasta luego, Jim

Mexico City Part 1: Aztec Origins

Eagle Warriors belonged to one of the two most important warrior cults. The Mexica, popularly known as Aztecs, were the most militaristic of the ancient pre-hispanic civilizations. This posting begins my series on Mexico City, and I thought it appropriate to begin with the people who actually founded this great metropolis in the early 14th Century AD. I confess that I have held back on this series for a couple of reasons. One was logistical. We have visited Mexico City twice, in 2010 and again in 2012. During those two visits, I accumulated more than 2000 photos of its wonders. Even sorting through that number of shots is a monumental task, much less sizing, cropping, and adjusting the light and color on each one that is useable. Then, there is the often agonizing process of choosing from among them the 200 or so I will actually display. Finally, there is all the post-adventure research to ensure that my comments will be both insightful and accurate. My second reason for hesitation has to do with the Aztecs themselves. As my regular readers must know by now, I am attracted to what is ancient. However, the Aztecs were relative latecomers on the Mesoamerican scene. I was also a bit put off by their blood-lust. Most of these ancient civilizations practiced some form of human sacrifice, but the Aztecs, as we shall see, practiced it on an industrial scale. However, there was also much that was beautiful and remarkable about their civilization. Even the dark parts were not just mindless cruelty, but related to their beliefs about the nature of the cosmos. All that having been said, here goes! (Photo from National Anthropological Museum)


Mexica migration legends

The Mexica arrive at their "promised land." The nomadic people who wandered out of the northern wastes never called themselves "Aztec." That was an early 19th Century invention of German explorer Alexander Humboldt. He based the name on Aztlan, the legendary homeland of the Mexica. In the cases of some of the more ancient civilizations of Mesoamerica, like Teotihuacan or the Toltecs, we don't know that they called themselves. We only know the names given to them by people who arrived centuries after their great cities were already in ruins. With the Mexica, we have the Spanish historical record telling us that this was the name used by their contemporaries, both friends and enemies, and by the Mexica people themselves. The people shown in the sculpture above have just reached the island in Lake Texcoco where they would found their capital. At this point they were simple, nomadic, hunter-gatherers. They had no experience in urban living, and their only possessions were those that they could easily carry as they migrated from place to place. The obvious wonder and joy they express is the result of a prophesy fulfilled.

Near the Mexica nomads stands a statue of an eagle eating a snake while sitting on a cactus. Over thousands of years, pre-hispanic Mexico experienced recurrent waves of nomadic migrants from the northern deserts. When great empires like Teotihuacan (100 AD-650 AD) arose, they kept the nomads in check. When they weakened, the nomads pushed in and sometimes took over. The first Nahuatl speakers (the language of the Mexica) arrived about the time of Teotihuacan's fall. Its successor, the Toltec State (700 AD-1100 AD), may have been founded by a mixture of those early nomads and Teotihuacan refugees. The Mexica themselves didn't leave their northern homeland of Aztlan until around 1100 AD, and they wandered through central Mexico for more than a hundred years seeking a place to settle. Along the way, one of their chiefs named Tenoch prophesied that when they found an island with an eagle sitting on a cactus eating a snake, they would know they had reached their destination. The lush shores of Central Mexico's Lake Texcoco looked enticing to these desert nomads. However, there were already large populations of sophisticated, urbanized people living in powerful city-states on the Lake's shores. These people treated the Mexica with contempt, as uncivilized interlopers. Eventually, the nomads sought refuge on an island not far off shore. It was on this island that, to their boundless joy, they spotted the eagle eating the snake. Home at last! In honor of their prophet, the Mexica named their new city Tenochtitlan.


The Toltec Connection

This Mexica "atlantean" figure is almost identical to those found in the Toltec capital at Tollan. At Tollan, much larger atlanteans still stand atop the Temple of the Warriors where they once supported its roof. These figures represent the ideal of the noble warrior. Like the Romans, the Mexica were not so much innovators as imitators and assimilators. They adopted much of their culture almost wholesale from their Toltec predecessors. They then carried out the Toltec ideas to their logical, but often rather grim, conclusions. Of course, the Toltecs themselves incorporated much from their predecessors, the Teotihuacans. The Mexica were aware of Teotihuacan, and called its ancient ruins "The Place Where The Gods Were Born." However, that great empire had fallen 500 years before and was already lost in the mists of time. The Toltecs provided a more recent example to follow, although the temples and palaces at Tollan had already been in ruins for 200 years by the time the Mexica wandered through. The unsophisticated nomads were enormously impressed by Toltec statuary, wall carvings, monuments and other imagery. The nomads felt that if they could emulate these people, they would certainly improve their status in the world. It is said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and the Mexica imitated the Toltecs with a vengeance. (Photo from Templo Mayor Museum)

This chacmool is another Toltec symbol appropriated by the Mexica. Chacmools are statues related to war, rain, and human sacrifice.This chacmool was found at the Templo Mayor, the chief pyramid of the Mexica at Tenochtitlán, their capital. The Templo Mayor had twin temples on top, one for the rain god Tlaloc, and the other for Huitzilopochitli, the god of the sun and of war. Chacmools may have originated with the Toltecs and many have been found at Tollan. They could also have originated with the Maya, since many have also been found at Chichen Itza, a Maya city with a mysterious and as-yet unexplained relationship to the Toltecs. Chacmools are instantly recognizable. They always appear as a male figure reclining on his back, knees raised and head turned questioningly. The figures always hold a bowl or disk on their stomachs which may have been where human hearts and blood were deposited after a sacrifice. The posture of the chacmool is submissive, very similar to how war captives are often portrayed, and the usual fate of such captives was sacrifice. The figures are most often found in the vestibule of a temple or the palace of a ruler, placed in front of a dias or throne. They are closely related to Tlaloc, the god of rain that the Toltecs adopted from Teotihuacan, and that the Mexicas in turn got from the Toltecs. Regular, dependable cycles of rain were essential to these civilizations, based as they were upon agriculture. Tlaloc, an extremely irascible sort of god, would not be impressed by just any old sacrifice. (Photo from National Anthropological Museum)

An eagle and a jaguar trade war stories on this Mexica relief sculpture. Carved on the side of a stone seat, both the animals stand in human-like postures. The curved symbols emerging from their mouths represent speech. Another important aspect of the Toltec culture was the warrior cult. The elite among these were the Eagle and Jaguar cults, whose emblems appear at the Temple of the Warriors at Tollan, as well as at similar structures in Chichen Itza. The newly-settled Mexica were treated contemptuously and pushed from hither to yon by their urbanized neighbors. They decided to adopt Toltec-style militarism as the way to improve their status. In doing so, they closely copied the Toltec model of organization, among other things creating their own eagle and jaguar warrior cults. (Photo from National Anthropological Museum)

Carved stone skulls line the sides of the Mexica tzompantli at the Templo Mayor. A tzompantli was a large wooden rack on which hundreds of human skulls were displayed after sacrifice. The racks would have been placed on top of stone pedestals, the sides of which were decorated like the one above. Similar tzompantlis stand adjacent to the Ball Courts at both Tollan and Chichen Itza. Ball games were often associated with human sacrifice, although it is a matter of some dispute whether it was the losing or the winning team that was afforded the honor of decapitation. In the case of the Mexica tzompantli, the skull rack was near the base of the great staircase of the Templo Mayor. Over time, many thousands trudged reluctantly up those stairs to their doom. While the Toltecs may have sacrificed many people in their time--and they were no slouches in this process--the Mexica took human sacrifice to a level never before seen in Mesoamerica. According to the Spanish, Mexica leaders proudly told them that when the Templo Mayor was inaugerated in 1487 AD by the great Emperor Ahuizotl, 1000 people were ritually killed each day over a 20-day period. The Mexica reported that a river of blood flowed down the great staircases of the Templo Mayor and into the plaza. The Nazis of the 20th Century would have been impressed. (Photo from Templo Mayor Museum)


The Role of Human Sacrifice

This great stone disk of Tizoc was the scene of sacrifice by ritual combat. The stone is all one piece and is huge, almost 1.22 m (4 ft) high and 3.05 m (10 ft) in diameter. On top is a great star-shaped carving with a circular pit in the middle, possibly a repository for hearts and blood. All around the sides are panels showing the Emperor Tizoc conquering the warriors of various cities. He reigned in Tenochtitlán and was the seventh Mexica emperor. However, his reign was short (1481 AD-1486 AD) and most of the victories depicted appear to have been achieved by previous rulers. There were various forms of human sacrifice, and one of them was a gladiatorial contest. The warrior being sacrificed would be tethered to the stone disk with a rope. He would then be confronted by five Mexica warriors, all carrying deadly hand weapons lined with razor-sharp obsidian. The victim would be armed with the same weapon, but in place of obsidian would be feathers. On the shelf in the background are statues of Michtlantecuhtli, the god of death and lord of the underworld. Human sacrifice was conducted for both political and religious purposes. Its most obvious political value was to intimidate both external enemies and current allies, as well as to awe the underlying Mexica population. There may also have been a public entertainment value. Huge crowds once gathered to watch Roman crucifixions and gladiatorial contests. In other eras they came to watch people burned at the stake during the Spanish Inquisition, and hung from the gallows in the US up until the last half of the 20th Century. Demonstrations of power through the spectacle of public executions can a very effective political technique. (Photo from National Anthropological Museum)

Tizoc wins again. The Emperor Tizoc is one on the left and he has the upper hand, quite literally, as he grasps the forelock of his opponent on the right. In Mesoamerican art, those victorious in battle are often shown dragging defeated warriors by their long hair. This is one of the side panels on the giant stone disk. The details of such carvings are always interesting to me. Tizoc carries a round shield, similar to one I will show later in this posting. He wears an elaborate head dress with what appears to be an bird on the front. He also wears a bracelet, a necklace and large ear rings, which in life would all have been jade. Across his chest is a butterfly-shaped breastplate, very similar to that seen on the Mexica atlantean in a previous photo. Such breast plates can also be seen on all the Toltec atlanteans at Tollan's Temple of the Warriors. Tizoc's opponent carries a large club in his left hand and clutches a bundle of arrows with his right, but doesn't brandish either weapon. He looks toward the ground, in a posture of submission. His heart will no doubt end up in the center bowl of the gladiatorial platform stone. (Photo from National Anthropological Museum)

Another sacrifice disk shows an unusual feature. This one has a similar star-burst carved in the top, along with the circular pit in the center. However, extending out from the pit is a groove, apparently to drain off the blood for further use. All this fixation with blood relates directly to Mexica beliefs about  how the cosmos functions. Blood was considered the very essence of life. Huitzilopochitli, the god of both the sun and war, needed to be fed regularly with human blood because he was in a constant struggle to keep the sun moving across the sky and to defeat the forces of darkness. From the Mexica point of view, they were performing a public service with their massive killings. After all, who wouldn't want to ensure that the sun comes up every morning. It was a small price to pay, always assuming you didn't have to pay it yourself. I should note here that what I describe in a few paragraphs of this section is an extremely abbreviated version of a very complex cosmology. Although they certainly had their political agendas in their use of human sacrifice, the Mexica also seem to have genuinely believed in their view of the cosmos. (Photo from National Anthropological Museum)

An jaguar statue carries a small container for human blood on his back. A container like this may have been used to collect the blood flowing down the drainage slot on the stone disk seen in the last photo. Alternatively, since this piece is rather small to handle the copious amounts of blood from a killing, it may have been used for another sort of blood sacrifice. Sometimes people drew blood from themselves as an atonement or while making a special request of the gods. The person would use the sharp spine from a maguey leaf, or sometimes one from a manta ray, to pierce the tongue or genitals. This would not only produce sacrificial blood, but also excruciating pain. This, in turn, could induce a trance-like state in which the person could make contact with the world of the spirits. (Photo from National Anthropological Museum)

The skulls of two victims rest among other, less ghastly offerings. The large oval blade in the upper right is typical of the instruments used in the sacrifice process. Obsidian blades can be brought to a sharpness greater than modern surgical scalpels. The individual to be sacrificed would have been grasped by the arms and legs and held down while facing the sky. The priest would slice through the chest with the blade, reach in to pull out the still beating heart, and turn to display it to the waiting crowd before placing it in the bowl of a chacmool or that of a gladiatorial platform stone. The body would then be thrown down the long staircase of the Templo Mayor. Sometimes the skin of the victim was flayed (peeled off) and worn by the priests, symbolizing life emerging from death and corruption. At other times the body might be fed to the animals in the emperor's zoo, or even used in cannibalistic rituals. Resting against the oval blade is a spine used for self-piercing blood sacrifices. Also present are shell beads, jade ear rings, coral, and many smaller, non-lethal offerings.

The only Europeans ever to witness Mexica human sacrifices were the Conquistators. Bernal Diaz del Castillo described how they watched helplessly from afar as the ceremony was performed on some of their own comrades who had been captured in battle:

"The dismal drum of [Huitzilopochtli] sounded again, accompanied by conches, horns, and trumpet-like instruments. It was a terrifying sound, and when we looked at the tall cue[temple-pyramid] from which it came we saw our comrades who had been captured in Cortés defeat being dragged up the steps to be sacrificed. When they had hauled them up to a small platform in front of the shrine where they kept their accursed idols, we saw them put plumes on the heads of many of them; and then they made them dance with a sort of fan in front of  [Huitzilopochtli]. Then after they had danced, the papas [Aztec priests] laid them down on their backs on some narrow stones of sacrifice and, cutting open their chests, drew out their palpitating hearts which they offered to the idols before them."

(Photo from Templo Mayor Museum)


The Warrior Cults and Mexica warfare

A full size statue of an Eagle Warrior was found in the ruins of the Templo Mayor in 1978. Eagle Warriors (in Nahuatl: cuãuhtli) wore elaborate costumes over cotton armor. Their open-beaked headdress/helmets were made of painted wood and the entire outfit was decorated with feathers. Along with the Jaguar Warriors, the Eagles were the elite of the Mexica army. They were the best trained, fiercest, and most respected fighters of the empire. Another indication of the Eagle Warriors' special status is that, in the Mexica mythology, eagles were symbols for the god of the sun and war, Huitzilopochitli. Most of the Eagle Warriors came from the nobility, but a commoner could gain membership through battle prowess and especially by capturing prisoners. In fact, a warrior gained much more status from a live prisoner than a dead enemy. Huitzilopochitli was always hungry for blood, famished as he was from the effort of keeping the universe from running off the rails. (Photo from National Anthropological Museum)

A Jaguar Warrior wore the skin and head of a jaguar as his uniform. Called ocelõtl in Nahuatl, Jaguar Warriors were named after the largest, fiercest, and most cunning animal predator of the Mesoamerican world. Jaguars hunt at night, a fact giving them a special status among the ancients who believed the big cats were connected with the underworld and with Tezcatlipoca, the god of the night sky. The Jaguar Warrior above carries a round shield in his left hand and brandishes the basic Mexica hand weapon in his right, the deadly Macuahuitl. Both the Jaguars and Eagles were intensively trained in its use, much as medieval knights trained with the sword. The basic Macuahuitl was a flat, rectangular paddle about 1 m (3 ft) long with a handle on one end. There were also some longer versions, intended to be wielded with both hands. The edges of the paddle were fitted with razor-sharp obsidian blades. Spanish soldiers who faced warriors wielding a Macuahuitl claimed that they could decapitate a horse with one blow. Like the Eagles, the Jaguar Warriors gained their status by capturing enemies. To become a Jaguar, a soldier had to capture at least 12 opponents in two consecutive battles. (Photo from National Anthropological Museum)

Mexica soldiers were equipped with an extensive armory. While the elite units wore costumes representing their animal totems, the basic soldier wore little clothing other than a loin cloth and sandals.  Some of his weapons are shown above. On the left is a spear, generally about 2.13 m (7 ft) long and tipped with a flat wooden point edged with obsidian, much like a Macuahuitl. These could be thrown or used for stabbing. Next is the bow, about 1.5 m (5 ft) long and capable of firing an arrow as much as 137 m (450 ft). The Mexica also used two other long-range weapons: the sling (not shown) and the atlatl, seen in use by the soldier above. The sling had a range of 198 m (650 ft), even greater than a bow, and was a powerful weapon. It should be remembered that the Hebrew David was supposed to have slain the giant Goliath with just such a sling. The atlatl is a truly ancient weapon, invented long before the bow and arrow. Used properly, it can propel a short spear or dart with much greater force and range than if the weapon was thrown by hand. A Macuahuitl can be seen just under the elbow of the soldier. A soldier might also carry smaller weapons for close fighting such as the hand ax, seen above, or a dagger. For defense, the basic soldiers used relatively small, round shields. As previously noted, the elites protected themselves with cotton armor as well as shields. Notice, in particular, the shield with the yellow and black design next to the Macuahuitl.

Mexica shields were made of perishable materials, so only a few survive. Shields were made of wicker and wood, covered with leather or animal hide as shown above. They were then painted in various designs. Variations of the design shown above appear again and again in the the literature. Apparently these kinds of abstract designs were popular in the Mexica army. Shields were sometimes further decorated with feathers attached to the rims. Wicker shields and cotton armor were adequate defenses against pre-hispanic weapons, and Mexica Macuahuitli and other arms could be used with devastating effect against the empire's opponents. Unfortunately for the Mexica, they could not generally prevail against Spanish armor or weapons made of steel. (Photo from National Anthropological Museum)

This unidentified obsidian weapon may have functioned like a European halberd. The weapon appears to be a combination of a spear and and a curved ax. That would suggest a similarity to the halberd, a weapon mounted on a long pole and used by European foot soldiers against mounted troops in the 15th and 16th Centuries. I was somewhat puzzled by this weapon, which was unaccompanied by any explanatory sign, because the pre-hispanic world contained no horses or other riding animals, and thus no cavalry or mounted troops to defend against. (Photo from National Anthropological Museum)


Trade and Commerce within the Empire

Mexica and Totonac leaders meet to talk politics and trade. The Mexica diplomat/trader called a Pochteca stands on the left, identified by his typical Mexica shield. The Totonac leader bears gifts and wears a type of head dress which is still worn by indigenous dancers called Quetzalines whom I have seen perform in Puebla State. Some 60,000 Totonac-speaking people still live in Mexico's Gulf Coast area, and as far inland as Puebla. Their civilization once extended all the way down the Coast to the Maya areas bordering the Yucatan Peninsula. However, by the time of the Spanish arrival, the Mexica had extended their control over much of this area and many Totonac city-states paid regular tribute to the empire. The Mexica did not usually lay waste to cities they conquered, nor even station troops there when they moved on. They allowed the local people to administer and police themselves, but required regular delivery of tribute consisting of the community's best products, including people for sacrifice. This, of course, was not popular within the conquered areas and resulted in periodic revolts. However, the establishment of the empire did promote trade and commercial activity. (Photo from the Diego Rivera murals at the National Palace)

The Pochteca transported high-value goods throughout the empire. Pochteca were Mexica traders and merchants who traveled throughout the empire and beyond. Given the lack of draft animals in Mesoamerica, everything had to be carried by the trader or by his servants. Goods therefore needed to be relatively light and compact. These might include conch shells which could be made into trumpets, jade jewelry, and copper axes as seen above. Other suitable items might include cacao beans, (sometimes used as currency as well as to make chocolate), obsidian blades, and beautifully woven cloth. The Pochteca were commoners, but achieved a higher status than any other non-nobles. They organized themselves into guilds and lived in their own neighborhoods. They even had their own god, Yacatecuhtli, who was the patron of trade. Because they traveled throughout the empire, and to other places not under Mexica control, they were also used as an intelligence network. The Pochteca were also trained as warriors, and needed to be, because they were sometimes attacked by people who viewed them--and rightly so--as an arm of the Mexica oppressors. These traders were important enough to the Mexica State that their traveling parties were sometimes protected by military escorts, if the threat was great enough. (Photo from National Anthropological Museum)

The great tianguis of Tenochtitlán was a market of amazing diversity. Tianguis is the Nahuatl word for street market, and many are still held all over Mexico, 500 years after Cortés first saw this one when he entered the Mexica capital. The Spanish were astounded by the variety, quantity, and quality of goods flowing into the seat of the empire from all points of the compass. The Mexica viewed Tenohtitlán as the center of their world, and the Pochteca saw the tianguis as the center of Tenochtitlán. The original tianguis was located in an area southwest of the Templo Mayor called Tlatelolco. In the background above, you can see Tenochtitlán spreading out into the distance, dotted with pyramids and temples. The tianguis above looks like many I have visited, except for the clothing of the participants. (Photo from the Diego Rivera murals at the National Palace)

Toy wooden boats indicate the importance of this form of transportation to the Mexica. Living on an island as they did, water transportation was essential. Some goods could come by road and over the several causeways that led into the city. However, water transportation enabled a Pochteca to transport goods more quickly and economically among the various communities lining the shores of Lake Texcoco. As they approached the city for the first time, the Spanish reported seeing great fleets of such boats plying the areas around Tenochtitlán. (Photo from National Anthropological Museum)

Two Mexica barter over maiz, using cacao beans as money. This painting provides a good sense of the clothing and adornment of Mexica merchants and their customers, as well as the interactions between them. Although modern, urbanized people now think of maiz (corn) as uniformly yellow, it was not originally that way. Maiz came (and in a few places still comes) in a wide variety of colors and possessed different qualities, depending on where it was grown and how it was cultivated. Most of this variety has been lost to the standardization techniques of modern agribusiness. Cacao beans had intrinsic value as the source of the luxury drink we know as chocolate. However, because of their small and relatively uniform size, they could function as a medium of exchange. Other kinds of currency included small copper bells, jade beads, and feathers. (Detail from the Diego Rivera murals at the National Palace)

The Famous "Aztec Calendar"

The huge "Aztec Calendar" dwarfs visitors to the National Anthropological Museum. I used the quotes because, contrary to popular belief, it is apparently not a calendar at all. This carved stone disk is one of the most widely recognized symbols of Mexico. It was discovered in 1790 during construction at Mexico City's main plaza, called the Zocalo. The disk weighs 24 tons and is about 3.7 m (12 ft) across. There are various theories about the purpose for which the stone was created. An early theory proposed a calendar, and that seems to have stuck with the public regardless of more recent archaeological interpretations. In fact, there are date glyphs within some of the concentric rings on the stone, and also some symbols relating to the five ages the Mexica believed the world has passed through since its beginning. However, the most recent theory is that the disk had political and religious functions. Politically, it may have represented a reaffirmation of the Mexica capital as the center of the universe. The stone, according to this interpretation, marks the actual geographical center of the world. As usual in the Mexica world, politics related to religion, and vice versa. Just as the stone marks the center of the world, politically and geographically, the center of the stone disk itself glorifies the sun god Tonatiuh, who ruled the fifth (or current) age. (Photo from National Anthropological Museum)

Detail of the disk showing the face of Tonatiuh. One of the things I find most baffling about the well-populated pantheon of Mexica gods is how often they overlap one another. This may be a product of the Mexica's hodge-podge assimilation of the cultures of others. We have already met the fearsome Huitzilopochitli, god of war and the sun, whose symbol was the eagle. Meet Tonatiuh, who shares those same attributes. Unfortunately, they are not simply the same god with two names, but are definitely two different gods, with different histories. I have been unable to find any explanation for this strange overlap, other than that they are "related" to one another. To the Mexica, both were immensely important deities who were making desperate efforts to keep the sun moving across the sky, thus requiring constant refreshment with human blood. Currently prevailing archeological opinion is that the actual use of the stone disk was for gladiatorial sacrifice rituals, similar to the other stone disks seen earlier. Above, Tonatiuh's rather skeletal face peers out, while his tongue drapes down his chin. It is believed that the tongue represents a sacrificial knife. The sun god's two hands extend out from each side of this head, holding human hearts. Also surrounding his head are four boxes containing symbols that represent the four previous ages replaced by the one now ruled by Tonatiuh. Just to further confuse the matter, some archaeologists believe that the image in the center is not Tonatiuh at all, but Tlaltecuhli, an earth monster who had a role in the Mexica creation myth. Have you got all that? And remember, there are dozens of Mexica gods, each with its own history and attributes, all arranged in a complex hierarchy of importance. (Photo from National Anthropological Museum)

A member of an Aztec dance troupe performs for the crowd near the Templo Mayor. Many of these troupes take great pains to accurately model their costumes from historical records and sketches made by Spanish soldiers and priest, as well as the Mexica themselves. In my next posting, I will continue with my examination of the Mexica culture, showing their beautiful art, jewelry, and other artifacts, as well as the ruins of the great Templo Mayor.

This completes Part 1 of my Mexico City series. I welcome and encourage your comments and any corrections. If you would like to comment, please do so in the Comments section below or email me directly.

If you leave a question in the Comments section, PLEASE leave your email address so I can respond.

Hasta luego, Jim

Valladolid Adventures Part 22 of 22: The Zaci Cenote, San Roque Museum, and random scenes around town

Cenote Zaci is a cool and inviting refuge on a hot Yucatan day. It was named for the ancient Maya city that Valladolid replaced when the Spanish arrived. Cenote Zaci is located on Calle 37, between Calles 34 and 36. It is about 3.5 blocks northeast of the Parque Principal Francisco Cantón Rosado, often simply called the Parque Principal. Stalactites and roots hang from the sides of the cenote. Some roots extend down all the way to the water. The cenote is 45m (147ft) in diameter and 40m (130ft) deep from the lip to the water's surface. In the deepest part, the water's bottom is 100m (326ft) below the surface. 

Part 22 will be my last posting on the city of Valladolid itself. We had additional adventures during day trips out of Valladolid to visit the huge convento in Izamal and the ancient ruins of Cobá and Muyil. Series on each of those will follow this one. To include them in this series would have made it dauntingly long. In this last Valladolid posting, I will cover some of the sites and scenes that didn't really fit in any of my other postings on the city. For information about how to reach Valladolid from Mérida or Cancun, see Part 1 of this series.

Two European girls enjoy the cool, clear cenote water. A cascade of droplets falls down from a spring in the limestone walls above. There is a fee for swimming and life jackets are available. Wearing sunblock while swimming is forbidden in order to preserve the water's purity. We didn't swim, but just enjoyed a good meal at the restaurant that overlooks the cenote. The two girls above appeared to be from northern Europe. They displayed the casualness about nudity of those societies when they changed from swimwear to street clothes on the lip of the cenote, oblivious to the nearby diners in the restaurant.

A cenote is a limestone sinkhole that forms when the ceiling above an underground river collapses. There are approximately 10,000 in the Yucatan Peninsula and about 150 of them are open to visitors. Cave divers have explored some of the passages connecting cenotes but this is extremely dangerous. It should only be attempted by fully equipped experts (with paid-up life insurance). Cenote Zaci is only a few blocks from the Plaza Principal where Zaci's main pyramid once stood. The cenote was once the primary water source for the ancient city,  For more information about cenotes, see Part 8 of this series.

Museo San Roque

A Maya warrior's face peers out from the jaws of his jaguar helmet. Such headgear was worn by members of the Jaguar Warriors, one of the most important military cults in the pre-hispanic Maya world. There was no sign by the limestone bust, so I couldn't determine precisely where it came from. However, it is most likely an artifact of either Zaci or Ek Balam. The Jaguar Warriors, along with the Eagle Warriors and other lesser military cults, emerged during the era of chaos and conflict that followed the fall of the Classic-era Teotihuacán Empire around 650 AD.  

This period, called the Epi-Classic, was a time when many small, militarized states arose, often fighting fiercely over control of trade routes. The Epi-Classic ended around 1000 AD with the rise of the Spartan-like Toltecs. Their empire marked the beginning of the Post-Classic era. The Toltecs elevated the Jaguar and Eagle Warrior cults to the pinnacle of their highly militarized society. Either through conquest or through indirect cultural influence, Toltec-style military cults began to appear in Yucatan's Maya civilizations. This can be seen most clearly at Chichen Itza, a close neighbor of both Ek Balam and Zaci.

Stucco profile of fierce bird, possibly an eagle. Again there was no sign in the museum about this object's origin or purpose, but it is probably an almena (merlon in English). This was an  architectural feature placed along the flat roofline of a pre-hispanic temple or elite residence. Unlike European merlons, which were part of the defensive structure of castles, the pre-hispanic almenas were purely decorative. They carried symbolic meanings when attached to temples. When they were part of a residential structure, they proclaimed the owner's status. This one may have decorated an Eagle Warrior's house.

Museo San Roque is located about one block to the east of the Parque Principal on Calle 41 (Highway 180) which runs along the south side of the Parque. The museum's structure was originally built in 1575 to house the Hospital del Santo Nombre de Jesus. Eventually, the 4-bed hospital was taken over and operated by the Convento San Roque. By 1645, it was renowned as the best hospital in the province. 

A lovely bowl with incised decorations is supported by three legs. The side of the bowl contains a series of incised abstract designs, with a series of scallops along the bottom. The three legs are a reference to the three stones that form the traditional Maya hearth. Those hearth stones, in turn, represent the ones that the gods placed in a triangular formation at the beginning of the world. In doing so, they created a cosmic hearth. This became the center, foundation, and source of the universe by lifting up the earth from the seas so that a place could be created for humanity.

The original structures of Convento San Roque have long-since disappeared, except for the building that was its templo. The templo's atrium is known as Parque los Heroes (Park of the Heros). In it are the graves of the two men murdered in 1703 at the Templo San Servacio. Other graves contain Maya rebels who were executed after a battle in Valladolid known locally as "The First Spark of the Mexican Revolution". After it ceased being used as a religious structure, the templo became the city's first electrical plant. Later, in 1998, it was transformed into the Museo San Roque.

This painted bowl contains various pieces of ancient jewelry. Close examination reveals faint painted designs on the interior of the bowl. In it are an assortment of jewelry, including shells, a square jade ear spool, clay beads, a small red head, bits of bone, and other fragments. The ancient Maya created attractive jewelry from whatever natural materials were at hand. Sometimes jewelry was crafted by artisans for local elites. Other jewelry was created for trade and might be transported for great distances. In fact, the ear spool may have originated in the Guatemala's Valle Motagua, the source of most of Yucatan's jade.

Trade routes were crucial to pre-hispanic civilizations. As noted previously, control of them was important enough to provoke wars. Trade was very active among the Maya city-states in the Yucatan Peninsula and Central America. It  was also conducted with the civilizations on the Gulf Coast and Central and Western Mexico. But it didn't end there. Sea-going canoes traveled up the Caribbean Coast from South America and goods might arrive from as far away as the Southwest of today's United States.

Rambling around Valladolid

A cheerfully grinning skeleton sits in a chair along one of Valladolid's streets. I have always enjoyed the quirky Mexican sense of humor. I don't recall the location where we encountered this jolly fellow, but he certainly deserved a quick photo. We visited Valladolid in January, more than two months after the annual November 2 fiesta known as Dia de los Muertos (the Day of the Dead). Consequently, his presence probably had nothing to do with that fiesta. He was simply there, with his toothy smile, watching the passersby while enjoying another sunny day in Yucatan.

Tequilleria Poncho Villa is a cantina near the Plaza Principal. It is about 1.5 blocks west of the Plaza on Calle 41 (Highway 180), in the opposite direction from Museo San Roque. The cantina is open from 9 AM to 8 PM daily, except for Sunday, when it closes at 6:30. I'm not sure I would want to be knocking back shots of tequila at 9 AM, but this is Mexico. Framing the entrance are two huge bottles of Tequila Correlejo. 

The tequila's name jogged my memory. When I Googled it, I discovered that this brand is made by a company operating at Hacienda Correlejo in Guanajuato. The hacienda was founded in 1566 and was the birth place of Padre Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla. He was the insurgent leader who launched Mexico's Independencia (War of Independence) in 1810. During a Hacienda Hunt in 2023, we visited that area and drove by the very distillery where this tequila was made. It is obviously a popular brand to be served here, so far away.

 

Restaurant Los Portales is a popular dining spot. It is located across from the southeast corner of Plaza Principal where Calles 41 and 40 intersect. Templo San Servacio occupies the far end of this block. The restaurant serves Yucateca meals, which tend to be less spicy than elsewhere in Mexico, but still very tasty. The restaurant gets its name from the arched portales that line the street side of the arcade.

Workers restore a building to something approaching its original glory. Mexico works hard to preserve its rich architectural heritage and has preserved a large number of its old colonial structures. People everywhere take great pride in the appearance of their historic Centros (areas around a town's plaza). This has brought great economic benefits as tourists flock to enjoy these places. Valladolid, is part of the Pueblo Magico (Magic Pueblo) program, which promotes this kind of restoration. 

And, of course, there are the ubiquitous Mexican dogs. What would Mexico be without its innumerable canines? They are everywhere, usually snoozing peacefully like this pair. Almost always relaxed and friendly, they are also usually dirty and require a hand-washing if you decide to pet them. They generally wander freely and have much more "street smarts" than dogs north of the border, who are usually penned up or restrained by leashes. 

The lack of restraint also means that Mexican dogs don't feel anxious around other dogs because they can socialize or withdraw at will. Consequently, I have rarely seen a serious dogfight. They often decide to sleep in the middle of a sidewalk and people just step around them without the snoozing pooches even bothering to raise an eyelid.

Night scenes around the Parque Principal

View from the balcony near our hotel room. The spires of Templo San Servacio glow in the distance. I took this shot on my way out for an evening stroll in the Centro area. Some folks are probably thinking "Are you nuts? Walking around at night in a Mexican city? Won't you immediately get mugged or kidnapped by cartel members?" Some cities in Mexico have areas that I certainly wouldn't chose for a nighttime stroll. But then, so do cities north of the border. Most places where I have lived or visited during my nearly two decades of life here have been perfectly safe, assuming normal judgement and good sense.

Valladolid's Centro is full of nightlife. People abound, including young lovers, families with children, and others just out to enjoy the scene. People are friendly and a buenas noches (good evening) is nearly always met with a smile and a warm buenas noches in return. Sometimes the person will ask where I am from and strike up a conversation. Many times, I will meet people who have relatives in the U.S. or have lived there for a time themselves. Occasionally I have encountered people who have lived near one of my former U.S. homes.

Templo San Servacio from the Plaza Principal. I like the way Mexican cities, particularly the Pueblos Magicos, light up their great architectural monuments at night. This makes them seem even more impressive than during the day. The front entrance of the church is open, which is not unusual. There were probably a few of the faithful scattered among the pews, praying or quietly enjoying the beautiful interior. 

Old structures like this provide me with a deep sense of connection to past ages. I rarely experienced this while living in the U.S. It is still a young country compared to Mexico and has had an unfortunate a tendency to bulldoze its architectural heritage. As the old Joni Mitchell song goes, "pave paradise and put up a parking lot". 

This set of arcades lined with portales is called Bazar Municipal. The food served in the small restaurants here includes tacos, pizza, sandwiches, Chinese, and espresso coffee. There is also an ATM handy for those who are hungry but short on cash. The Bazar is located on the corner of Calles 39 and 40, just to the right of Hotel Méson del Marqués, and across from the Plaza Principal. Méson del Marques was the delightful hotel where we stayed during our adventures in Valladolid. As you can see, there were quite a number of people enjoying a late meal or a snack on this balmy evening.

This concludes Part 22 of my Valladolid Adventures series and finishes the series itself. Following this will be several more series focusing on areas we visited in day trips in northern Yucatan. I hope you enjoyed this posting. If so, please leave any thoughts or questions in the Comments section below or email me directly. If you leave a question, please remember to include your email address so that I can respond in a timely manner.

Hasta luego, Jim