Acatitlan ( Nahuatl: "place among the reeds"; Spanish "carrizal") is an archeological zone of the early

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 ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl ...

(or Epi-toltec) culture located in the town of Santa Cecilia, in the municipality of

Tlalnepantla de Baz Tlalnepantla de Baz is one of 125 municipalities of the state of Mexico, north of Mexico City. The municipal seat and largest city in the municipality is the city of Tlalnepantla. ''Tlalnepantla'' comes from the Náhuatl words ''tlalli'' (land) ...

in Mexico State, about 10 km northwest of

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

. In pre-Hispanic times it was located on the northwest shore of the great

Lake Texcoco Lake Texcoco ( es, Lago de Texcoco) was a natural lake within the "Anahuac" or Valley of Mexico. Lake Texcoco is best known as where the Aztecs built the city of Tenochtitlan, which was located on an island within the lake. After the Spanish con ...

Foundation

This settlement was associated with Tenayuca, the political and religious center of the time; the two sites are about 3 km apart. Along with Tenayuca, it was later annexed by the Mexica and became part of the

lacustrine A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...

culture of the

Valley of Mexico The Valley of Mexico ( es, Valle de México) is a highlands plateau in central Mexico roughly coterminous with present-day Mexico City and the eastern half of the State of Mexico. Surrounded by mountains and volcanoes, the Valley of Mexico w ...

under the rule 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 ...

, until the arrival of the conquistadors in 1521. After the conquest of Mexico, Acatitlan began to decline, and the city, like many other

Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica ...

n structures, was dismantled, its stone forming the basis of the new city's churches, houses and monuments.

Archaeological site

Only one quadrangular basement currently survives, which might have been one of the

site Site most often refers to: * Archaeological site * Campsite, a place used for overnight stay in an outdoor area * Construction site * Location, a point or an area on the Earth's surface or elsewhere * Website, a set of related web pages, typical ...

's main structures. It consists of a large staircase leading up to a temple. Like Tenayuca, it is thought that the temple was dedicated to the worship of Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc. The construction method was probably the characteristic one of successive structures, one on top of the other, and at least four successive time periods have been detected. Today, the inside of the pyramid is one of the best preserved interior structures. The exterior structures were removed and many of their stones were used to build the adjacent church, which dates back to the late 16th century. In 1962, the architect and archaeologist Eduardo Pareyon Moreno reconstructed and reinforced the pyramid's basement and rebuilt the temple that crowns it. Although such a reconstruction certainly does not comply with current canons of archaeology, the product is a beautifully delineated Mexica pyramid, one of the best-conserved examples of this culture.

Museum

Inaugurated in 1961, INAH operates an on site museum called the Eusebio Davalos Hurtado Museum of Mexica Sculpture. Eusebio Dávalos an archaeologist and the owner of the

pulque Pulque (; nci, metoctli), or octli, is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented sap of the maguey (agave) plant. It is traditional in central Mexico, where it has been produced for millennia. It has the color of milk, a rather viscous c ...

hacienda which was once adjacent to the site and which now houses the museum. Dávalos dedicated part of his life to collecting the artifacts now on display. His collection includes ceramic and stone materials from this and other sites in the Mexica zone of influence. The museum also exhibits a kitchen and living room in the style of the period before the Mexican revolution. The museum is located on Calle Circuito Pirámide in Tlalnepantla.

References

* SOLIS OLGUIN, F.R. ''La escultura Mexica del Museo de Santa Cecilia Acatitlán''. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia NAH Mexico 1977.

Foundation

Archaeological site

Museum

See also

References

Further reading