Olmecs to Toltecs: Great ancient civilizations of Mexico
Published 4:00 am, Wednesday, December 1, 2010
It always strikes me when I travel in Mexico how many foreign visitors don't know the Olmecs from the Toltecs, never mind the Totonacs. Most of what we've learned about Mexico's ancient cultures begins and ends with the Aztecs and the Maya. Those justly renowned civilizations arose relatively late in the country's history, building on traditions that came before and incorporating influences from other peoples near and far.
Mesoamerica at its height was home to more than 25 million people. The 280 languages still spoken in Mexico today show that despite shared traditions and influences, many distinct civilizations arose because of geography, climate and contact with other cultures.
In the beginning
The earliest Mexicans might have been Stone Age hunter-gatherers from the north, descendants of a race that crossed the Bering Strait and reached North America around 12,000 B.C. Or, according to more recent theories, they might have been even earlier explorers from Asia. We do know Mexico was populated by 10,000 B.C., and sometime after 5200 B.C., roughly 2,000 years before the dawn of the Greek Bronze Age or the building of the Egyptian pyramids, these early people were practicing agriculture and domesticating animals.
The mother culture: The Olmecs
Mexico's Preclassic, or Formative, period generally coincides with the height of the Olmec civilization, from about 1300-400 B.C. Considered Mesoamerica's mother culture, these enigmatic people inhabited the tropical plains of today's Gulf Coast, including the states of Veracruz and Tabasco. The Olmec created a basic calendar, developed a writing system and established principles of urban layout and architecture, all of which would be perfected by the Maya, who began developing late in the Preclassic. During this period, Greece came through its Dark Age and into (and out of) its Classical Period, the Roman Empire was founded and Buddha was born.
The Olmecs were the first to leave signs of their culture for succeeding civilizations to contemplate, but the colossal stone heads, each carved from basalt rock weighing as much as 30 tons procured from hundreds of miles away, raise more questions than they answer. The best place to ponder those mysteries is at Parque Museo La Venta in Villahermosa, capital of Tabasco State, which houses some of these enormous carvings.
The making of a classic: Teotihucacan
Inspired by Olmec culture, the city of Teotihuacan, about 25 to 30 miles northeast of Mexico City, is one of the country's most-visited ancient cities. Its origins remain shrounded in mystery: Though the Totonacs maintain that they built it, the Olmec influence is inescapable, and some archaeologists and scholars believe the Toltecs were the true founders.
Teotihuacan reached its height between 700 B.C. and A.D. 700, a period that saw construction of Greece's Parthenon and the great works of Homer, Sophocles and Plato. Its influence remained strong through much of the Classic period (A.D. 300-900). It was conquered by northern tribes in 700, and its widespread influence rapidly diminished.
The city's most impressive structures are the magnificent Temple of the Feathered Serpent, the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon, all lining the central thoroughfare, the Avenue of the Dead. The Palace of the Jaguars and the Palace of the Quetzal-Butterfly feature well-preserved murals, and the Temple of Quetzalcoatl includes numerous bold sculptures.
Reading, writing and arithmetic: The Zapotecs
The Classic period, A.D. 300-900, is best known for producing the Maya's greatest accomplishments. In the rest of the world, Attila the Hun was busy invading Europe, which soon entered the Midde Ages following the fall of the Roman Empire; the Chinese built the Great Wall and invented porcelain; and Mohammed marched from Mecca to Medina, launching the Muslim era.
The Maya weren't the only sophisticated culture in Mexico during the Classic period. Rising to ascendancy as the Olmec civilization declined, the Zapotecs dominated the Oaxaca region by 200 B.C. City dwellers and formidable warriors, their art, architecture, religion and mathematics show influence from the Olmec and the Maya. The heart of Zapotec culture was the mountainous area at and around Monte Alban, but they spead their influence into the coastal regions and traded with the Maya to the south.
Though the Zapotec civilization peaked between the third and eighth centuries A.D., their culture endures even today. They presented one of the Spanish conquerors' most vigorous challenges, and Benito Juarez, revered as Mexico's greatest president, was a Zapotec.
Birdmen of El Tajin: The Totonacs
The Totonacs, rivals of the Aztec, might well be the civilization most responsible for what Mexico is today. Their city-state extended through a great swath of central Veracruz and Puebla states. Peaking from A.D. 800 to 1100, the Totonacs ruled up to a quarter of a million people (archaeologists vigorously debate any population estimate). Between 25,000 and 100,000 residents occupied their capital, Cempoala, 5 miles inland from today's city of Veracruz.
The Totonacs, endowed with an abundance of water and fertile land, grew a wide variety of crops. One of the most important was cotton, which they used to make armor. After their conquest by the Aztecs in 1480, the Totonacs were forced to pay tributes of cloth, fruit, vegetables, honey and even slaves. Cortez' great good luck was to encounter the Totonacs first of all Mexico's native people; they were only too glad to mobilize their considerable forces to help the Spaniards defeat the Aztecs and establish North America's first European city at today's port of Veracruz.
The Totonacs' Danza de los Voladores de Papantla, a religious ceremony for communicating with nature and the gods, is still performed at El Tajin, one of their major cities. Four voladores (birdmen), one each for the gods of sun, wind, earth and water, swing from a rope tethered to their ankle around a pole as high as 100 feet and gradually descend to the ground. Each circles the pole 13 times, the total of 52 representing the weeks in a year. The archaeological site's Pyramid of the Niches is known for its 365 "niches" carved in and around the pyramid to symbolize the days of the year.
All's fair in commerce and war: The Toltecs
The Postclassic period, from A.D. 900 to the time of the conquest, was a busy time all over the world, from Marco Polo's travels to China to the founding of Cambridge University to Columbus' arrival in the New World. Europe's Renaissance was at its height, and Charles I of Spain had just been elected emperor of the Holy Roman and Germanic Empires, when Cortez made his first foray into Mexico.
Although the Postclassic has become virtually synonymous with Aztec rule, central Mexico was Toltec domain from A.D. 950 to 1200, with their influence spread throughout central and eastern Mexico. The capital, Tula (a.k.a. Tollan), in the Valley of Mexico, was home to 40,000 to 60,000 people.
The Toltecs' power lay in their expertise in war and commerce. One of their notable inventions was the tzompantli, a wall adorned with the heads of sacrificial victims, particularly prisoners of war. Their vast commercial network ranged from the southeastern United States to the southern reaches of Central America. Although they leveled many Maya cities, the Toltecs also built others with the Maya's help, most notably Chichen Itza. Droughts, rebellions and invasions eventually diminished Toltec influence.
The Tula archaeological site, 40 miles north of Mexico City, is best known for its nearly 15-foot-high stone warriors, which once served as columns supporting a pyramid. Structures worth seeing include the Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli Pyramid, Coatepantli (Serpent Wall) and the Burnt Palace. There is also a small museum.
Conquest and beyond: The Mixtecs
The Mixtecs, whose documented history stretches back to the Preclassic period — their agricultural villages have been dated to 1350 B.C. — began to dominate the Oaxaca Valley soon after the rival Zapotec culture peaked, supplanting the Zapotecs in Oaxaca, Puebla and parts of Guerrero states. They are most famous for their stone and metal work, their elaborately carved wood and bone objects and painted pottery.
The Mixtec's considerable influence on other cultures is especially evident in the sites of Mitla and Monte Alban, Zapotec cities taken over by the Mixtec during an extended war. The Aztecs finally conquered them 30 years before Cortez arrived, but Mixtec people still live in the area today.