Mesa de Cacahuatenco
Encyclopedia
| Totonac, Huastec, Otomi Culture – Archaeological Site | ||
| Name: | Mesa de Cacahuatenco | |
| Type | Mesoamerican archaeology | |
| Location | Ixhuatlán de Madero Ixhuatlán de Madero Ixhuatlán de Madero is a Municipality in Veracruz, Mexico. It is located in north zone of the State of Veracruz, about 376 km from state capital Xalapa. It has a surface of 598.81 km2... , Veracruz Veracruz Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave , is one of the 31 states that, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided in 212 municipalities and its capital city is... |
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| Region | Mesoamerica Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a region and culture area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, within which a number of pre-Columbian societies flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and... |
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| Coordinates | 20°41′N 98°01′W | |
| Culture | Totonac Totonac The Totonac people resided in the eastern coastal and mountainous regions of Mexico at the time of the Spanish arrival in 1519. Today they reside in the states of Veracruz, Puebla, and Hidalgo. They are one of the possible builders of the Pre-Columbian city of El Tajín, and further maintained... – Huastec Wastek language The Wastek or Huastec language is a Mayan language of Mexico, spoken by the Huastecs living in rural areas of San Luis Potosí and northern Veracruz. Though relatively isolated from them, it is related to the Mayan languages spoken further south and east in Mexico and Central America... – Otomi Otomi language Otomi is an Oto-Manguean language and one of the indigenous languages of Mexico, spoken by approximately 240,000 indigenous Otomi people in the central altiplano region of Mexico. The language is spoken in many different dialects, some of which are not mutually intelligible, therefore it is in... |
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| Language | Totonac Totonacan languages The Totonacan languages are a family of closely related languages spoken by approximately 200,000 Totonac and Tepehua people in the states of Veracruz, Puebla, and Hidalgo in Mexico... – Huastec – Otomi people Otomi people The Otomi people . Smaller Otomi populations exist in the states of Puebla, Mexico, Tlaxcala, Michoacán and Guanajuato. The Otomi language belonging to the Oto-Pamean branch of the Oto-Manguean language family is spoken in many different varieties some of which are not mutually intelligible.One of... |
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| Chronology | 900 to 1500 CE | |
| Period | Mesoamerican Postclassical | |
| Apogee | ||
| INAH Web Page | Non existent | |
Mesa de Cacahuatenco is a mesoamerica
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica is a region and culture area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, within which a number of pre-Columbian societies flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and...
n prehispanic archeological site, located in the municipality of Ixhuatlán de Madero
Ixhuatlán de Madero
Ixhuatlán de Madero is a Municipality in Veracruz, Mexico. It is located in north zone of the State of Veracruz, about 376 km from state capital Xalapa. It has a surface of 598.81 km2...
in northern Veracruz
Veracruz
Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave , is one of the 31 states that, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided in 212 municipalities and its capital city is...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, south of the Vinasca River.
It is an important site, located some 44 kilometers (27.32 mi.) west of Castillo de Teayo
Castillo de Teayo (Mesoamerican site)
Castillo de Teayo is a mesoamerican Prehispanic archeological site and Mesoamerican pyramid, located in the La Huasteca region in northern Veracruz, Mexico...
another contemporary archaeological site in Veracruz.
El Tajín
El Tajín
El Tajín is a pre-Columbian archeological site and was the site of one of the largest and most important cities of the Classic era of Mesoamerica. The city flourished from 600 to 1200 C.E. and during this time numerous temples, palaces, Mesoamerican ballcourts and pyramids were built...
archaeological site is located some 80 kilometers (49 mi.) southeast. It is one of the largest and better known cities of the mesoamerican classical era, it flourished from 600 to 1200 C.E.
Toponymy
The word Ixhuatlán is derived from two náhuatl words: Ixhuatl that means “papatla” and Tlan that means place.Hence, Ixhuatlán means “Place of papatlas”; papalta is a plant that frows in moist places and its leaves are used to wrap tamale
Tamale
A tamale — or more correctly tamal — is a traditional Latin American dish made of masa , which is steamed or boiled in a leaf wrapper. The wrapping is discarded before eating...
s.
Background
The history of the native peoples of the state of Veracruz is complex. In the pre-Columbian period, the modern-day state of Veracruz was inhabited primarily by four indigenous cultures. The Huastecos and OtomisOtomi people
The Otomi people . Smaller Otomi populations exist in the states of Puebla, Mexico, Tlaxcala, Michoacán and Guanajuato. The Otomi language belonging to the Oto-Pamean branch of the Oto-Manguean language family is spoken in many different varieties some of which are not mutually intelligible.One of...
occupied the north, while the Totonac
Totonac
The Totonac people resided in the eastern coastal and mountainous regions of Mexico at the time of the Spanish arrival in 1519. Today they reside in the states of Veracruz, Puebla, and Hidalgo. They are one of the possible builders of the Pre-Columbian city of El Tajín, and further maintained...
s resided in the north-center. The Olmec
Olmec
The Olmec were the first major Pre-Columbian civilization in Mexico. They lived in the tropical lowlands of south-central Mexico, in the modern-day states of Veracruz and Tabasco....
s, one of the oldest cultures in the Americas, became dominant in the southern part of Veracruz. Remains of these past civilizations can be found in archeological sites such as Pánuco, Castillo de Teayo
Castillo de Teayo (Mesoamerican site)
Castillo de Teayo is a mesoamerican Prehispanic archeological site and Mesoamerican pyramid, located in the La Huasteca region in northern Veracruz, Mexico...
, El Zapotal, Las Higueras, Quiahuiztlán , El Tajín
El Tajín
El Tajín is a pre-Columbian archeological site and was the site of one of the largest and most important cities of the Classic era of Mesoamerica. The city flourished from 600 to 1200 C.E. and during this time numerous temples, palaces, Mesoamerican ballcourts and pyramids were built...
, Cempoala
Cempoala
Cempoala or Zempoala is an important Mesoamerican archaeological site located in the Úrsulo Galván Municipality, in the state of Veracruz...
, Tres Zapotes
Tres Zapotes
Tres Zapotes is a Mesoamerican archaeological site located in the south-central Gulf Lowlands of Mexico in the Papaloapan River plain. Tres Zapotes is sometimes referred to as the third major Olmec capital , although Tres Zapotes' Olmec phase constitutes only a portion of the site’s history, which...
and San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán
San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán
San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán is the collective name for three related archaeological sites -- San Lorenzo, Tenochtitlán, and Potrero Nuevo -- located in the southeast portion of the Mexican state of Veracruz. From 1200 BCE to 900 BCE, it was the major center of Olmec culture...
.
Chronology studies of archaeological sites in northern Veracruz show that the area has been occupied at least since 5600 B.C. and show how nomadic hunters and gatherers eventually became sedentary farmers, building more complex societies, even before the rise of the city of El Tajín.
The pace of this societal progression became more rapid with the rise of the neighboring Olmec
Olmec
The Olmec were the first major Pre-Columbian civilization in Mexico. They lived in the tropical lowlands of south-central Mexico, in the modern-day states of Veracruz and Tabasco....
civilization around 1150 B.C., although the Olmecs were never here in great numbers.
It is unclear who built these cities. Some argue in favor of the Totonacs and the Xapaneca; however, there is a significant amount of evidence that the area was populated by the Huastec at the time some of these settlements were founded. In the 1st century C.E.
In the case of El Tajin, construction started soon after and by 600 C.E., it was a city. Its rapid rise was due to its strategic position along the old Mesoamerican trade routes. It controlled the flow of commodities, both exports such as vanilla and imports from other locations in what is now Mexico and Central America. From the early centuries, objects from Teotihuacan are abundant.
These sites combine various cultural traditions, first the Olmec, considered the mother civilization and subsequently several cultural expressions, in different times, ranging from the Huastec, Totonac, Otomi, and the Aztec, in the late Postclassical. According to specialists, the architecture of the only remaining building is of Aztec filiation, although the village also had relationships with Toltec groups from the Mexican Plateau.
The Olmec-vixtoti Culture became the cuexteca or Huastec culture. In relation to the Maya and Toltec societies, there was an important influence on the site sculptures. However, there is another version that says that the sculptural style corresponds to a Toltec occupation.
The Huastec culture developed south of the current states of Tamaulipas, north of Veracruz, east of San Luis Potosí and small areas of the states of Puebla, Querétaro and Hidalgo. Although this geographic-cultural regionalization has not been stable thru time, Teayo Castle is included in this region.
Site
Mesa de Cacahuatenco was probably a very important ceremonial center. It occupies an extension of over 75 hectares with more than 60 covered structures identified, the site is probably twice as large as El Tajin.A remarkable feature of this site is represented by a hydraulic system that apparently interconnected the structures of the city. Current studies chronologically place this site at about 900 to 1500 CE.
Although little information is known about its founders, current information identify this recently discovered site as one of the most important in the Huasteca region.
Excavations have barely commenced, yet the site complex architectonic features are remarkable.
Structures
Of the more of 60 buildings, the largest structure is a platform measuring 50 meters long by 28 wide; the structures comprise a cannel system, residential structures, 18 buildings within the central plaza.The site also includes a ballgame court, although there are no details of its characteristics.
Hydraulic and road System
The site has an hydraulic system, unlike any other archaeological site found thus far, it is made from communicating channels and a road complex, of Mayan style.Further reading
- Ariel de Vidas, A. 2003. “Ethnicidad y cosmologia: La construccion cultural de la diferencia entre los teenek (huaxtecos) de Veracruz”, in UNAM, Estudios de Cultura Maya. Vol. 23.
- Campbell, L. and T. Kaufman. 1985. “Maya linguistics: Where are we now?,” in Annual Review of Anthropology. Vol. 14, pp. 187–98
- Dahlin, B. et al. 1987. “Linguistic divergence and the collapse of Preclassic civilization in southern Mesoamerica”. American Antiquity. Vol. 52, No. 2, pp. 367–82.
- INAH. 1988. Atlas cultural de Mexico: Linguistica. Mexico City: Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia.
- Kaufman, T. 1976. “Archaeological and linguistic correlations in Mayaland and associated areas of Mesoamerica.” World Archaeology 8:101-18.
- Malstrom, V. 1985. “The origins of civilization in Mesoamerica: A geographic perspective”, in L. Pulsipher, ed. Yearbook of the Conference of Latin Americanist Geographers. Vol. 11, pp. 23–29.
- Ochoa, L. 2003. “La costa del Golfo y el area maya: Relaciones imaginables o imaginadas?”, in UNAM, Estudios de Cultura Maya. Vol. 23.
- Robertson, J. 1993. “The origins and development of Huastec pronouns.” International Journal of American Linguistics. 59(3):294-314
- Stresser-Pean, G. 1989. “Los indios huastecos.” In Huastecos y Totonacas, edited by L. Ochoa. Mexico City: CONACULTA.
- Vadillo Lopez, C. and C. Riviera Ayala. 2003. “El tráfico maritimo, vehiculo de relaciones culturales entre la region maya chontal de Laguna de Terminos y la region huaxteca del norte de Veracruz, siglos XVI-XIX”, in UNAM, Estudios de Cultura Maya. Vol. 23.
- Wilkerson, J. 1972. Ethnogenesis of the Huastecs and Totonacs. PhD dissertation, Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, Tulane University, New Orleans.