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Coatepantli
Coatepantli is a Nahuatl word meaning "wall of serpents". It comes from the words ''coatl'' meaning serpent and ''tepantli'' meaning wall. It is an architectural motifLeonardo López Luján, Alfredo López Austin"El coatepantli de Tenochtitlan. Historia de un malentendido", '' Arqueología Mexicana núm. 111, pp. 64-71'', Retrieved on 5 March 2019. found in archeological sites in Mesoamerica. Purpose There is no consensus on the purpose of these walls. Many researchers have suggested that the coatepantli were used to mark the boundary between ceremonial and non-ceremonial land, and at times the word has been used to signify any wall which encloses a sacred space, notably in Tlatelolco. Recent research disputes this and suggests that they varied in their nature, but they were not explicit boundaries between the sacred and the secular. Examples Only three coatepantli are known to exist. The oldest was constructed at the Tula site between 950 CE and 1200 CE. The Tenayuca and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coatepantli
Coatepantli is a Nahuatl word meaning "wall of serpents". It comes from the words ''coatl'' meaning serpent and ''tepantli'' meaning wall. It is an architectural motifLeonardo López Luján, Alfredo López Austin"El coatepantli de Tenochtitlan. Historia de un malentendido", '' Arqueología Mexicana núm. 111, pp. 64-71'', Retrieved on 5 March 2019. found in archeological sites in Mesoamerica. Purpose There is no consensus on the purpose of these walls. Many researchers have suggested that the coatepantli were used to mark the boundary between ceremonial and non-ceremonial land, and at times the word has been used to signify any wall which encloses a sacred space, notably in Tlatelolco. Recent research disputes this and suggests that they varied in their nature, but they were not explicit boundaries between the sacred and the secular. Examples Only three coatepantli are known to exist. The oldest was constructed at the Tula site between 950 CE and 1200 CE. The Tenayuca and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tlatelolco (archaeological Site)
Tlatelolco is an archaeological excavation site in Mexico City, Mexico where remains of the pre-Columbian city-state of the same name have been found. It is centered on the Plaza de las Tres Culturas. On one side of the square is this excavated Tlatelolco site, on a second is the oldest European school of higher learning in the Americas called the Colegio de Santa Cruz de Tlatelolco, and on the third stands a mid-20th-century modern office complex, formerly housing the Mexican Foreign Ministry, and since 2005 used as the ''Centro Cultural Universitario'' of UNAM (National University of Mexico). Tlatelolco was founded in 1338, thirteen years later than Tenochtitlan. At the main temple of Tlatelolco, archeologists recently discovered a pyramid within the visible temple; the pyramid is more than 700 years old. This indicates that the site is older than previously thought, according to the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (National Institute of Anthropology and Histor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tenayuca
Tenayuca ( nah, Tenanyohcān ) is a pre-Columbian Mesoamerican archaeological site in the Valley of Mexico. In the Postclassic period of Mesoamerican chronology, Tenayuca was a settlement on the former shoreline of the western arm of Lake Texcoco. It was located approximately to the northwest of Tenochtitlan (the heart of present-day Mexico City). Tenayuca is considered to be the earliest capital city of the Chichimec, nomadic tribes who migrated and settled in the Valley of Mexico, where they formed their own empire.Tenayuca at INAH Etymology Tenayuca means ''walled place'' in .Location The temple of Tenayuca is lo ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tula (Mesoamerican Site)
Tula is a Mesoamerican archeological site, which was an important regional center which reached its height as the capital of the Toltec Empire between the fall of Teotihuacan and the rise of Tenochtitlan. It has not been well studied in comparison to these other two sites, and disputes remain as to its political system, area of influence and its relations with contemporary Mesoamerican cities, especially with Chichen Itza. The site is located in the city of Tula de Allende in the Tula Valley, in what is now the southwest of the Mexican state of Hidalgo, northwest of Mexico City. The archeological site consists of a museum, remains of an earlier settlement called Tula Chico as well as the main ceremonial site called Tula Grande. The main attraction is the Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl, which is topped by four basalt columns carved in the shape of Toltec warriors. Tula fell around 1150, but it had significant influence in the following Aztec Empire, with its history written about heavily i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nahuatl
Nahuatl (; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahua peoples, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller populations in the United States. Nahuatl has been spoken in central Mexico since at least the seventh century CE. It was the language of the Aztec/ Mexica, who dominated what is now central Mexico during the Late Postclassic period of Mesoamerican history. During the centuries preceding the Spanish and Tlaxcalan conquest of the Aztec Empire, the Aztecs had expanded to incorporate a large part of central Mexico. Their influence caused the variety of Nahuatl spoken by the residents of Tenochtitlan to become a prestige language in Mesoamerica. After the conquest, when Spanish colonists and missionaries introduced the Latin alphabet, Nahuatl also became a literary language. Many chronicles, grammars, works of poetry, administrative docu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maya Civilization
The Maya civilization () of the Mesoamerican people is known by its ancient temples and glyphs. Its Maya script is the most sophisticated and highly developed writing system in the pre-Columbian Americas. It is also noted for its art, architecture, mathematics, calendar, and astronomical system. The Maya civilization developed in the Maya Region, an area that today comprises southeastern Mexico, all of Guatemala and Belize, and the western portions of Honduras and El Salvador. It includes the northern lowlands of the Yucatán Peninsula and the highlands of the Sierra Madre, the Mexican state of Chiapas, southern Guatemala, El Salvador, and the southern lowlands of the Pacific littoral plain. Today, their descendants, known collectively as the Maya, number well over 6 million individuals, speak more than twenty-eight surviving Mayan languages, and reside in nearly the same area as their ancestors. The Archaic period, before 2000 BC, saw the first developments in agricul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ochre
Ochre ( ; , ), or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colours produced by this pigment, especially a light brownish-yellow. A variant of ochre containing a large amount of hematite, or dehydrated iron oxide, has a reddish tint known as "red ochre" (or, in some dialects, ruddle). The word ochre also describes clays coloured with iron oxide derived during the extraction of tin and copper. Earth pigments Ochre is a family of earth pigments, which includes yellow ochre, red ochre, purple ochre, sienna, and umber. The major ingredient of all the ochres is iron(III) oxide-hydroxide, known as limonite, which gives them a yellow colour. * Yellow ochre, , is a hydrated iron hydroxide (limonite) also called gold ochre. * Red ochre, , takes its reddish colour from the mineral hematite, which is an anhydrous iron ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Templo Mayor
The (Spanish: Main Temple) was the main temple of the Mexica people in their capital city of Tenochtitlan, which is now Mexico City. Its architectural style belongs to the late Postclassic period of Mesoamerica. The temple was called ' in the Nahuatl language. It was dedicated simultaneously to Huitzilopochtli, god of war, and Tlaloc, god of rain and agriculture, each of which had a shrine at the top of the pyramid with separate staircases. The central spire was devoted to Quetzalcoatl in his form as the wind god, Ehecatl. The Great Temple devoted to Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc, measuring approximately at its base, dominated the Sacred Precinct. Construction of the first temple began sometime after 1325, and it was rebuilt six times. The temple was destroyed by the Spanish in 1521, and the Mexico City cathedral was built in its place. The Zócalo, or main plaza of Mexico City today, was developed to the southwest of Templo Mayor, which is located in the block between Semi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Huītzilōpōchtli
In Aztec mythology, Huitzilopochtli ( nci-IPA, Huītzilōpōchtli, wiːt͡siloːˈpoːt͡ʃt͡ɬi, ) is the deity of war, sun, human sacrifice, and the patron of the city of Tenochtitlan. He was also the tribal god of the Mexicas, also known as the Aztecs, of Tenochtitlan. Many in the pantheon of deities of the Aztecs were inclined to have a fondness for a particular aspect of warfare. However, Huitzilopochtli was known as the primary god of war in ancient Mexico. Since he was the patron god of the Mexica, he was credited with both the victories and defeats that the Mexica people had on the battlefield. The people had to make sacrifices to him to protect the Aztec from infinite night. He wielded Xiuhcoatl, the fire serpent, as a weapon, thus also associating Huitzilopochtli with fire. As noted by the Spaniards during their discovery and conquest of the Aztec Empire (wherein they recorded the deity's name as ''Huichilobos''), human sacrifice was common in worship ceremonies, whic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tlāloc
Tlaloc ( nci-IPA, Tlāloc, ˈtɬaːlok) is a deity in Aztec religion. The supreme god of the rain, Tlaloc is also a god of earthly fertility and of water. He was widely worshipped as a beneficent giver of life and sustenance, as well as feared for his ability to send hail, thunder, and lightning, and for being the lord of the powerful element of water. Tlaloc is also associated with caves, springs, and mountains, most specifically the sacred mountain where he was believed to reside. His animal forms include herons and water-dwelling creatures such as amphibians, snails, and some sea creatures, particularly shellfish. The Mexican marigold, ''Tagetes lucida'', known to the Aztecs as , was another important symbol of the god, and was burned as a ritual incense in native religious ceremonies. The cult of Tlaloc is one of the oldest and most universal in ancient Mexico. Although the name Tlaloc is specifically Aztec, worship of a storm god, associated with mountaintop shrines and wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yaxchilan
Yaxchilan () is an ancient Maya city located on the bank of the Usumacinta River in the state of Chiapas, Mexico. In the Late Classic Period Yaxchilan was one of the most powerful Maya states along the course of the Usumacinta River, with Piedras Negras as its major rival.Sharer & Traxler 2006, p. 421 Architectural styles in subordinate sites in the Usumacinta region demonstrate clear differences that mark a clear boundary between the two kingdoms. Yaxchilan was a large center, important throughout the Classic era, and the dominant power of the Usumacinta River area. It dominated such smaller sites as Bonampak, and had a long rivalry with Piedras Negras and at least for a time with Tikal; it was a rival of Palenque, with which Yaxchilan warred in 654. The site is particularly known for its well-preserved sculptured stone lintels set above the doorways of the main structures.Sharer & Traxler 2006, p. 435 These lintels, together with the stelae erected before the major buildings, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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