Mount Tlaloc (
Spanish
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Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
: Monte Tláloc, sometimes wrongly listed as ''Cerro el Mirador'';
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 ...
: ''Tlālōcatepētl'') is a
mountain
A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...
and
archaeological site
An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...
in central
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
. It is located in the
State of Mexico
The State of Mexico ( es, Estado de México; ), officially just Mexico ( es, México), is one of the 32 federal entities of the United Mexican States. Commonly known as Edomex (from ) to distinguish it from the name of the whole country, it is ...
, in the municipalities of
Ixtapaluca
Ixtapaluca is a city and a municipality in the eastern part of the State of Mexico in Mexico. It lies between the Federal District and the western border of the state of Puebla. The name Ixtapaluca means "Where the salt gets wet".
As of 2006, Izt ...
and
Texcoco, close to the state border with
Puebla
Puebla ( en, colony, settlement), officially Free and Sovereign State of Puebla ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its cap ...
. Formerly an active
volcano
A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface.
On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are ...
, it has an official
altitude
Altitude or height (also sometimes known as depth) is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum and a point or object. The exact definition and reference datum varies according to the context ...
of above sea level, thus being the 9th tallest mountain of Mexico.
The mountain was considered by the
Nahuan peoples, foremost among them the
Aztec
The Aztecs () were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different Indigenous peoples of Mexico, ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those g ...
s, to be specially sacred to the raingod
Tlaloc. In fact, the mountain was believed to be one of his primary earthly dwelling places, called
Tlalocan. Attribution of this and other mountains to the sacred presence of rain deities predates the Aztec era by centuries, even millennia. At the summit there are still remains of a shrine where high ceremonies would have been carried out. The rites of Tlaloc were otherwise performed at his temples, most famously that occupying one half of the
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 ...
at the heart of the temple precinct of nearby Mexico-
Tenochtitlan
, ; es, Tenochtitlan also known as Mexico-Tenochtitlan, ; es, México-Tenochtitlan was a large Mexican in what is now the historic center of Mexico City. The exact date of the founding of the city is unclear. The date 13 March 1325 was ...
. The inherent analogy of temple pyramids to sacred mountains allows for the very likely possibility that the central temple of the Aztec capital, as such, was at least partly a symbolic representation of the actual Mount Tlaloc, and that the summit shrine of the temple was itself an analogue to that atop the mountain. The shrine atop is one of the highest-elevation shrines in the world.
Together with Mount Telapón () and some other, lower peaks, Mount Tlaloc forms the "Sierra de Río Frío", the northernmost tip of the
Sierra Nevada
The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...
. The mountain is easily accessible from
Federal Highway 150 at the town of
Río Frío de Juárez Río Frío de Juárez, originally Río Frío (Cold River), a Mexican populated place, is located in the municipality of Ixtapaluca in the State of Mexico. Río Frío de Juárez is located at the highest point on the highway between Mexico City to ...
. The long, but easy and non-technical hike provides an elevation gain of over 1200 m.
More strenuous routes depart from San Pablo Ixayoc and from other towns outside Texcoco.
Geology
Mount Tlaloc is an eroded
stratovolcano
A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a conical volcano built up by many layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with a summit crater and per ...
and the oldest and northernmost volcano in a volcanic chain extending south to
Popocatépetl
Popocatépetl (; Nahuatl: ) is an active stratovolcano located in the states of Puebla, Morelos, and Mexico in central Mexico. It lies in the eastern half of the Trans-Mexican volcanic belt. At it is the second highest peak in Mexico, after C ...
. Volcanism at Tlaloc initiated during the
Pliocene
The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58[Late Pleistocene
The Late Pleistocene is an unofficial Age (geology), age in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy, also known as Upper Pleistocene from a Stratigraphy, stratigraphic perspective. It is intended to be the fourth division of ...](_blank)
. A major
Plinian eruption about 31,500 years ago produced
pyroclastic flow
A pyroclastic flow (also known as a pyroclastic density current or a pyroclastic cloud) is a fast-moving current of hot gas and volcanic matter (collectively known as tephra) that flows along the ground away from a volcano at average speeds of bu ...
s and a major
pyroclastic fall
A pyroclastic fall is a uniform deposit of material which has been ejected from a volcanic eruption or plume such as an ash fall or tuff. Pyroclastic air fall deposits are a result of:
# Ballistic transport of ejecta such as volcanic blocks, volca ...
deposit composed of
pumice
Pumice (), called pumicite in its powdered or dust form, is a volcanic rock that consists of highly vesicular rough-textured volcanic glass, which may or may not contain crystals. It is typically light-colored. Scoria is another vesicular vol ...
.
Mountain's precinct
![Monte Tláloc - Calzada](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/Monte_Tl%C3%A1loc_-_Calzada.jpg)
Mount Tlaloc features an enclosed precinct on its summit which could be reached through by taking a pathway up the mountain and entering the western side of the enclosure. The structure of the precinct consisted largely of pumice and tufa, which were locally found and were easily molded due to their soft physicality. The precinct houses 5 rock formations, one at the center and 4 at the corners of the ''tetzacualo'', or courtyard. The center rock is thought to be analogous to the
Codex Borgia
The Codex Borgia ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Borg.mess.1), also known as ''Codex Borgianus'', ''Manuscrit de Veletri'' and ''Codex Yohualli Ehecatl'', is a pre-Columbian Middle American pictorial manuscript from Central Mexico featuring calendrica ...
which depicts
Tlaloc standing in the center of his four rain forms (which are represented by the four directions). These 5 rock formations are representative of the
Tlaloque, which are spirits that used vessels of water to distribute rain across the land. In addition, one side of the courtyard featured a construct that housed a statue of
Tlaloc among other idols that represented nearby sacred regions. This precinct served a major role in allowing a setting at which supplication could be made to the
Tlaloque for sustenance of crops and the people of Mesoameric
Ritual practices
The Aztecs were known for their rituals that were undertaken in order to secure rain for the land. Extravagant ceremonies, plentiful offerings, and the lives of young Mesoamericans were all offered to
Tlaloc in order to please him several times each year with an emphasis at the beginning of the rain season. One annual feast called
Huey Tozoztli Huey Tozoztli also known as Huey Tocoztli is the name of the fourth month of the Aztec calendar. It is also a festival in the Aztec religion dedicated to Tlaloc and other deities. It is called the great or long vigil.
References
{{reflist
Az ...
occurred atop Mount Tlaloc and coincided with the date of highest annual temperature, which usually occurred in April, right before the start of the rainy season. The rulers and elites of
Tenochtitlan
, ; es, Tenochtitlan also known as Mexico-Tenochtitlan, ; es, México-Tenochtitlan was a large Mexican in what is now the historic center of Mexico City. The exact date of the founding of the city is unclear. The date 13 March 1325 was ...
and nearby states, such as
Xochimilco
Xochimilco (; nci, Xōchimīlco, ) is a borough (''demarcación territorial'') of Mexico City. The borough is centered on the formerly independent city of Xochimilco, which was established on what was the southern shore of Lake Xochimilco in the ...
,
Tlaxcala
Tlaxcala (; , ; from nah, Tlaxcallān ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tlaxcala ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tlaxcala), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 60 municipaliti ...
, and
Tlacopan
Tlacopan, also called Tacuba, was a Tepanec / Mexica altepetl on the western shore of Lake Texcoco. The site is today the neighborhood of Tacuba, in Mexico City.
Etymology
The name comes from Classical Nahuatl ''tlacōtl'', "stem" or "rod" and ...
, were also cited to have joined the feast. Another ceremony that took place atop Mount Tlaloc was Atlachualo which was celebrated from mid-February to early March. This ceremony involved the sacrifice of children who were dressed "like gods" and taken to the mountain top and had their hearts removed for ceremonial purposes. The children were encouraged to cry because their tears symbolized abundant rains and if they did not cry on their own on the way to the precinct, their fingernails were cited to have been removed to incite tears. The main objective of these offerings were to please Tlaloc and the
Tlaloque in order to ensure rainfall for the rainy season to come, hence why both of the above ceremonies occurred a few months before the rainy season of summer.
Archaeological findings
Due to the irregularities of the damage done to the walls of the enclosure, researchers have claimed that the damage was likely as a result of human contact, rather than natural phenomena. The site was originally covered with pieces of green stone, shards of pottery, and obsidian blades. The archaeologists claim that the site maybe have been used up until the end of the Christian era. The modern shrine that appears is currently at the summit was likely built around the 1970s as an aerial view of the ritual site in 1956 does not show the current statue
See also
*
Aztec mythology
Aztec mythology is the body or collection of myths of the Aztec civilization of Central Mexico. The Aztecs were Nahuatl-speaking groups living in central Mexico and much of their mythology is similar to that of other Mesoamerican cultures. Accordi ...
*
List of mountain peaks of Mexico
This article comprises three sortable tables of Summit, major mountain peaksThis article defines a significant summit as a summit with at least of topographic prominence, and a major summit as a summit with at least on topographic prominence. ...
*
Tlaloc
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tlaloc
Religious places of the indigenous peoples of North America
Mountains of Mexico
Stratovolcanoes of Mexico
Pliocene stratovolcanoes
Pleistocene stratovolcanoes
Geography of Mesoamerica
Sacred mountains
North American 4000 m summits
Volcanoes of the State of Mexico