Toltecs

Toltecs
Who were the Toltecs?
Toltecs?
Tula
Toltec Sphere of Influence
Fall of Tula and the Toltecs
ToltecaTolteca-Chichimeca & Nonoalca
Nonoalca
Populated by two groups
ToltecaTolteca-Chichimeca
probably
original NahuatlNahuatl-speakers who founded
Toltec state
reported to have come from north
leader was Mixcoatl ("Cloud Serpent" = Milky Way)
Agriculture
reported to have settled at a place in the Valley of Mexico
called Colhuacan
described as having fair skin and black beard
Toltec economy
Missionaries report ears of corn that could hardly be carried in one's
arms, cotton in all different colors (from bright red to green, blue, and
violet)
maize was the basic food source
supplemented with beans, chili peppers, amaranth, squash
medicinal plants and drugs also grown
farming in milpas and household gardens
earth worked with stone or wooden hoes (= lowlow-intensity horticulture)
planting with wooden digging sticks
polycropping common (beans and squash with maize)
Irrigation was essential
Tlaloc was probably a critical deity (deity of rain)
hillside terraces built to trap water and silt for agriculture
intensification technique which was probably a response to
population pressure
Referred to as highly civilized leaders, priests,
merchants, and craftsmen
Possibly from Gulf Coast region of Veracruz and
Tabasco, or they may have come from Teotihuacan
Probably included upper and middle classes from
Teotihuacan, Monte Alban, Xochicalco,
Xochicalco, El Tajin,
Tajin, and
other centers who were forced to search out new lives
when home communities declined
Suggests migration played a major role in formation of
Toltec civilization
Hunting and gathering
Wild seeds
Fruits included cherrycherry-like capulin,
capulin,
persimmon,
persimmon, and prickly pear (nopales)
nopales)
Turkeys and small dogs were only meatmeatproducing domestic animals
Bees were probably raised for honey
Hunted animals included deer, jackrabbit,
cottontail rabbit
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Craft production
Artifacts: Pottery
"Toltec" came to mean master craftsman or
artisan
Missionaries described "scribes, lapidarians,
lapidarians,
carpenters, stone cutters, masons, feather workers,
feather gluers, potters, spinners, and weavers"
Lapidarians worked turquoise, gold, copper, tin, and
lead, together with green stones, amber, rock crystal
(quartz), amethyst, pearls, and opals
Tecali,
Tecali, often confused with onyx, used for beads,
ornaments, bowls, jars, and other luxury products
Obsidian
controlled Pachuca obsidian mines
prized above all other obsidian by Mesoamericans
suggests cores were produced for trade
Brazier with skulls
Duck effigy bowl
Pipes
Unique greengreen-gold color
Papagayo polychrome bowl
Atlantes = column in the shape
of a man
Artifacts: Stone Carvings
Jaguar statue
Figurines
Altar support from the
Temple of Quetzalcoatl
Rear view of the
altar support
http://www.rose-hulman.edu/~delacova/toltec-standing-figurines.htm
http://www.rose-hulman.edu/~delacova/tula-atlantes.htm
Commerce
Many believe there was a Toltec "pochteca
"pochteca""
(specialized merchant group)
conspicuously absent was Fine Orange from southern
Veracruz, Tabasco, and Campeche
cacao and quetzal feathers may have come from
Guatemala
northern steppe zones provided turquoise,
serpentine, quartz, rock crystal, amethyst, and
cinnabar (brick red ore)
also peyote and hallucinogenic mushrooms
Pacific coast shells indicate commercial ties with
coastal zones
metal ornaments, especially copper, may also have
come from this region
Religion
Tezcaltlipoca - the night and the darkness
Tlá
Tláloc god of the rain and the vegetation
Centé
Centéotl god of the corn
ltzpapá
ltzpapáloti or butterfly of obsidian
Tonatiuh or solar god.
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Tlaloc god of rain
Tula
A.D. 900900-1200
Development of city north of Teotihuacan.
Located on the Tula river and near the Lerma
rivers for easy communication with others.
This new capital was closer to the northern limits
of agriculture.
Toltec history embellished by Aztecs, Spaniards
and others after their collapse in 1200 A.D.
http://www.rose-hulman.edu/~delacova/toltec-tlaloc.htm
Tula
north of Valley of Mexico in southern part of state of
Hidalgo
Dry, desertified area
Tula Grande
Geography
hardy scrub and cactus thickets, mesquite, prickly pear, and
yucca
soils are rich, but irrigation necessary for agriculture
high mountains to the east hold clouds away from area and
rainy season precipitation is insufficient for rainfall agriculture
agriculture
Climate
mild, with annual temperatures ranging from 1616-19C
(60(60-66F)
monthly temperatures average from 11C (52F) in
December to 38C (100F) in May with frosts frequent
in winter
Tula Ballcourts
Ballcourt 1
Just south of Tula Chico,
was occupied during the
prime phase of Tula 9509501150 A.D.
Population of 3030-60,000
residents.
craftspeople, trades
people, religious leaders,
but not farmers.
workshops included
manos and metates
makers.
Palace of the Columns
Ballcourt 2
Stone (found in the
center of the ballcourt)
possibly connected with
the scoring or ritual
of the game
http://www.rose-hulman.edu/~delacova/ballcourt-no2.htm
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Temple of Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli
(Temple of the Morning Star)
Atlantes
Atlantean warrior columns on the
summit of Pyramid B, Tula Grande.
All are made of basalt and are over
fifteen feet tall.
http://www.rose-hulman.edu/~delacova/tula-temple.htm
Pyramid B: Temple of Quetzalcoatl
Recreation of what the temple would
have looked like in the past.
Chacmool
http://www.rose-hulman.edu/~delacova/toltecs1.htm
Pyramid C
Coatepantli
Talud-tablero
Drainage in
Rear of
pyramid
http://www.rose-hulman.edu/~delacova/tula-2.htm
Detail of the Coatepantli, which
depicts a band of serpents
devouring a skeletal form
On the inner side of this is a well preserved frieze
depicting a rather grisly scene of a long line of snakes
swallowing skeletal people, who are thought to be warriors.
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Toltec Sphere of Influence
Palace of Quetzalcoatl
Sphere vs. Empire
Not really a major empire like Teotihuacan or some other sites.
It never had a wellwell-defined boundary and nothing to indicate
centralized control.
Trade
Must have been an important influence on their wealth,
organization and management.
Toltec artifacts have a wide but uneven distribution.
much art has militaristic displays,
displays, but no coercion or conquest
has been discovered archaeologically.
Received items such as gold from the south.
Many claimed to be descended from the Toltecs–
Toltecs– no clear
evidence of dynastic line
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