- Xaltocan
Xaltocan was a
pre-Columbian city-state and island in theValley of Mexico , located in the center ofLake Xaltocan , part of an interconnected shallow lake system which includedLake Texcoco . The site was originally settled by the Otomi people, but following a war in the in the late14th century where the Otomi were defeated by an alliance ofTepanec s and Mexica the Otomi were driven off the island and relocated to Otumba, Metztitlan and Tlaxcala. The island of Xaltocan was then resettled byNahuatl speakers [Davies, 1980 p. 233-34] .Overview
Xaltocan is known to have been inhabited in the Postclassic period. Ceramics and other archaeological remains dating to this period have been recovered in excavations at the site. [Brumfiel, E (2005)] It is thought to have been a local center of power capable of exacting tribute from other city-states in the area.
The founding of Xaltocan is described in the mytho-historical documents, the "
Historia Tolteca-Chichimeca " and "Anales de Cuauhtitlan ". According to the "Anales" the Xaltocameca (people of Xaltocan) were among theChichimec tribes that left the mythical place of origin,Aztlán , under a leader named "Quauhtliztac" ("White Eagle"). The "Historia" also identifies the Xaltocameca as belong to the Otomi ethnic group [Davies, 1980 p. 91-93] . In this document, written by Ixtlilxochitl, the first leader of the Xaltocameca is named as "Iztacquauhtli", which also means "White Eagle" in Nahuatl.In the 13th century Xaltocan were involved in a prolonged war with the
Nahua city-state ofCuauhtitlan . Xaltocan was initially the strongest but around 1395 the ruler of Cuauhtitlan, Xaltemoctzin, allied himself with Tezozomoc ofAzcapotzalco and his subjects theMexica ofTenochtitlan and finally managed to conquer Xaltocan. The Otomi inhabitants fled north to the Otomian city-state of Metztitlan and toTlaxcala , while others were allowed to resettle on the lands ofTexcoco in the place now called Otumba.During the next 100 years the site was resettled by Nahua peoples. After the
Aztec Triple Alliance defeated the Tepanecs of Azcapotzalco, Xaltocan became an Aztec subject city and paid tribute to Tenochtitlan, mainly in the form of woven blankets. In1521 during theSpanish conquest of Mexico the army ofHernán Cortés razed Xaltocan and burned it to the ground.Notes
References
* Davies, Nigel, 1980, "The Toltec Heritage - from the fall of Tula to the rise of Tenochtitlan", University of Oklahoma Press.
* Brumfiel, E.M. & M.G. Hodge, 1996, "Interaction in the basin of Mexico: The case of Postclassic Xaltocan"- Arqueología mesoamericana: homenaje a William T. Sanders
* Brumfiel, Elizabeth M., Ed. 2005, "Production and Power at Postclassic Xaltocan" "Arqueología de México", No. 6, published by University of Pittsburgh Latin American Archaeology Publications and Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (México, D.F.)389 pp. ISBN: 1-877812-81-1.
* Brumfiel, Elizabeth M., 1996, "The Quality of Tribute Cloth: The Place of Evidence in Archaeological Argument" in "American Antiquity, Vol. 61"
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