- Calixtlahuaca
Calixtlahuaca is a Postclassic period
Mesoamerica narchaeological site , located near the present-daycity ofToluca in the State of Mexico. Known originally as "Matlatzinco ", this urbanAztec settlement was a powerfulcapital whose kings controlled a large territory in theToluca Valley .Archaeologist José García Payón excavated the monumentalarchitecture at Calixtlahuaca in the 1930s and restored a number oftemple s and other buildings. Most notable are Structure 3, a circular temple dedicated to the Aztec wind godEhecatl , and Structure 17, a large royal “palace”. The architecture and stonesculpture at the site is similar to that of other Middle to Late Postclassic period (AD 1100-1520) Aztec sites in centralMexico .In 2002 Dr.
Michael E. Smith initiated a new research project at Calixtlahuaca. This project was sponsored byArizona State University and theNational Science Foundation , and fieldwork began in 2006 with a full-coverage intensive survey of the site. In 2007 a series of houses and terraces were excavated, revealing the form of life of the inhabitants of Calixtlahuaca for the first time.Calixtlahuaca is also known for a the discovery of a
ceramic dubbed the "Tecaxic-Calixtlahuaca head " uncovered during García Payón's excavations in the 1930s and purported to be fromAncient Rome . Although this artifact has aprovenance similar to other items excavated at that time – andradioluminescence testing and stylistic analysis seem to support the antiquity of the artifact [Hristov and Santiago.] – the implications of thisout-of-place artifact compel mainstream Mesoamerican scholars to remain sceptical. [See Smith (2005.]Notes
References
*citation|last1=Hristov|first1=Romeo H.|last2=Genovés T.|first2=Santiago|year=1999|title=Mesoamerica evidence of pre-Columbian transoceanic contacts|journal=Ancient Mesoamerica|volume=10|pages=207–213
*Smith, Michael E. (2003) [http://www.famsi.org/reports/01024/ Postclassic Urbanism at Calixtlahuaca: Reconstructing the Unpublished Excavations of José García Payón.]*Smith, Michael E. (2005) " [http://www.public.asu.edu/~mesmith9/tval/RomanFigurine.html The "Roman Figurine" Supposedly Excavated at Calixtlahuaca] , accessed January 2008.
*Smith, Michael E., Juliana Novic, Peter C. Kroefges, and Angela Huster (2007) " [http://www.antiquity.ac.uk/ProjGall/smith1/index.html A New Map of the Aztec-Period City of Calixtlahuaca in Central Mexico. Antiquity 81:'Project Gallery'] "
* Smith, Michael E., Jennifer Wharton, and Melissa McCarron (2003) " [http://www.public.asu.edu/~mesmith9/1-CompleteSet/MES-03-JW-MM-CalixOfr.pdf Las ofrendas de Calixtlahuaca] " in "Expresión Antropológica" 19:35-53.
External links
* [http://www.public.asu.edu/~mesmith9/Calix/index.html Calixtlahuaca Web Site]
* [http://calixtlahuaca.blogspot.com/ Calixtlahuaca Archaeological Project Blog]
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