Tammapul (Huastec: "''Place of Mist")'' is a

Pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, th ...

ruin in

Tamaulipas, Mexico Tamaulipas (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas), is a state in the northeast region of Mexico; one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal Entiti ...

attributed to the

Huastec civilization The Huastec civilization (sometimes spelled Huaxtec or Wastek) was a pre-Columbian civilization of Mesoamerica, occupying a territory on the Gulf coast of Mexico that included the northern portion of Veracruz state, and neighbouring regions of th ...

. It is located 8 kilometers southeast of the city of Tula, and sits by the shores of the Tula lagoon. Tammapul is believed to be a Huastec settlement, but 35,000 ceramic remains found on-site suggest a simultaneous connection to the Río Verde culture from the neighboring

San Luis Potosí San Luis Potosí (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of San Luis Potosí ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de San Luis Potosí), is one of the 32 states which compose the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 58 municipalities and i ...

History

As a town, Tammapul reached its zenith during the Epi-Classic period, from 600-900 AD. The archeological zone was first documented by Abraham Ortelius in his 1570 map of

La Huasteca La Huasteca is a geographical and cultural region located partially along the Gulf of Mexico and including parts of the states of Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Puebla, Hidalgo, San Luis Potosí, Querétaro and Guanajuato. It is roughly defined as the area ...

. In 1836, Toribio de la Torre described the place in his ''Description of the great road of Tula, Tamaulipas''. Experts conclude that Tammapul was forcefully stripped of valuable materials in the 18th and 19th centuries, be it in the form of building materials, ceramics, art and more. In 1830, University of Texas researchers conducted the first official exploration of the site. In 1950, San Luis Potosi historian Joaquín Meade visited the region, crucially drawing scholarly interest to the area. In 1980, the historian Octavio Herrera Pérez, in conjunction with local residents, carried out extensive excavations and surrounded the pyramid with barbed fencing to prevent future desecration. Researchers from the

National Institute of Anthropology and History National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

continue to carry out excavations of Tammapul to this day.

Description of the site

Out of three circular constructions connected by paved roads, Tammapul's most outstanding structure is "El Cuizillo," known also as the Tula Pyramid. This semi-conical building is 12 meters tall and consists of three superimposed floors. The base has a diameter of 41 meters and is made of carved and polished stone, and its second level is characterized by horizontal stones erupting from its exterior. El Cuizillo's third floor, also referred to as its center or nucleus, is a cylindrical body made of limestone. Though El Cuizillo's exact architecture is unrepeated among Mesoamerican ruins, its circular base can be seen in

Guachimontones Los Guachimontones is the largest Late Formative to Classic period (300 BCE to 450/500 CE) pre-Columbian archaeological site in the state of Jalisco.Christopher S. Beekman (2018). La secuencia cronológica temprana en Los Guachimontones. In Nuevo ...

Cuicuilco Cuicuilco is an important archaeological site located on the southern shore of Lake Texcoco in the southeastern Valley of Mexico, in what is today the borough of Tlalpan in Mexico City. Some historians believe this settlement goes back to 1400 B ...

, Tzintzunzan and nearby

El Sabinito El Sabinito is a Pre-Columbian ruin associated with the Huastec civilization. Located in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, El Sabinito is approximately 25 kilometers southwest and 96 kilometers east of the modern-day cities Soto la Marina and Ciud ...

. Likewise, El Cuizillo's protruding features recur in

Tula Tula may refer to: Geography Antarctica *Tula Mountains *Tula Point India *Tulā, a solar month in the traditional Indian calendar Iran * Tula, Iran, a village in Hormozgan Province Italy * Tula, Sardinia, municipality (''comune'') in the pr ...

and parts of

Teotihuacan Teotihuacan (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Teotihuacán'') (; ) is an ancient Mesoamerican city located in a sub-valley of the Valley of Mexico, which is located in the State of Mexico, northeast of modern-day Mexico City. Teotihuacan is ...

. Seeing this, Tammapul may have served as a crossroads of Mesoamerican culture, with its architecture thus reflecting a diverse range of influences. In the Huastec culture, round pyramids were typically associated with the wind god

Ehecatl Ehecatl ( nci-IPA, Ehēcatl, eʔˈeːkatɬ, ) is a pre-Columbian deity associated with the wind, who features in Aztec mythology and the mythologies of other cultures from the central Mexico region of Mesoamerica. He is most usually interpreted as ...

, offering one explanation for the misty connotations of Tammapul's etymology.{{Cite web, last=Cartwfirst=Mark, date=24 March 2017, title=Ehecatl, url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Ehecatl/

References

Mesoamerican sites Archaeological sites in Mexico Huastec sites Archaeological sites in Tamaulipas Tamaulipas

History

Description of the site

See also

References