Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-04T19:27:57.421Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

THE ETHNOHISTORY AND ARCHAEOLOGY OF CUAUHQUECHOLLAN, VALLEY OF ATLIXCO, MEXICO

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 December 2015

Avis Mysyk  and
Lucero Morales Cano
Avis Mysyk*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology and Sociology, Cape Breton University, 1250 Grand Lake Road Sydney, Nova Scotia, CanadaB1P 6L2
Lucero Morales Cano
Affiliation:
Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Puebla, Puebla, México72270
*
E-mail correspondence to: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Despite the commercial, economic, and military importance of the Valley of Atlixco to the history of Mesoamerica, it has not received as much attention from ethnohistorians and archaeologists as it warrants. This paper illustrates that importance by attempting to correlate different types of evidence from the sites of Atlixco and Cuauhquechollan. Atlixco—the settlement referred to in the ethnohistoric sources as Cuauhquechollan—was occupied continuously from the Early Preclassic period to the middle of the Late Postclassic period (a.d. 1443), when it was relocated 20 km to the southwest (present-day Huaquechula). The new settlement retained the name, Cuauhquechollan, while Atlixco became referred to as Huehuecuauhquechollan (Old Cuauhquechollan). The evidence consists of a variety of ethnohistoric sources, the archaeological record (settlement patterns and ceramic materials), and the iconography of Late Postclassic sculptures and carvings located in and around Huaquechula, and in the immediate vicinity of the Valley of Atlixco. In spite of the limitations of the different types of evidence, the findings suggest that there are sufficient points of overlap to allow for a better understanding of the importance of the Valley of Atlixco and to provide the impetus for further research.

Type
Research Article
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 26 , Issue 2 , Fall 2015 , pp. 329 - 345
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Anales de Cuauhtitlan 1975 In Códice Chimalpopoca: Anales de Cuauhtitlan y Leyenda de los soles. Direct translation from Náhuatl by Velázquez, Primo Feliciano, pp. 3–68. Instituto de Investigaciones Históricas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México City.Google Scholar
Archivo General de la Nación 1543 Mercedes, vol. 2, exp. 532, fs. 215v–216r.Google Scholar
Archivo General de la Nación 1545 Tierras, vol. 2683, exp. 4., fs. 164.Google Scholar
Asselbergs, Florine 2004 Conquered Conquistadors: The Lienzo de Quauhquechollan, A Nahua Vision of the Conquest of Guatemala. University Press of Colorado, Boulder.Google Scholar
Berdan, Frances F., and Anawalt, Patricia Rieff 1997 The Essential Codex Mendoza. University of California Press, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Blanco, Mónica 1988 Hacienda San Lorenzo: Un asentamiento teotihuacano en el Valle de Atlixco. Unpublished Master's thesis, Department of Anthropology, University of the Americas-Puebla, Cholula.Google Scholar
Boone, Elizabeth H., and Smith, Michael E. 2003 Postclassic International Styles and Symbol Sets. In The Postclassic Mesoamerican World, edited by Smith, Michael E and Berdan, Francis F., pp. 186–193. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Carballo, David M., and Pluckhahn, Thomas 2007 Transportation Corridors and Political Evolution in Highland Mesoamerica: Settlement Analyses Incorporating GIS for Northern Tlaxcala, Mexico. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 26:607–629.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caso, Alfonso 1966 La época de los señoríos independientes. Revista Mexicana de Estudios Antropológicos 20:147–152.Google Scholar
Caso, Alfonso 1971 Calendrical Systems of Central Mexico. In Archaeology of Northern Mesoamerica, Part 1, edited by Ekholm, Gordon F. and Bernal, Ignacio, pp. 333–348. Handbook of Middle American Indians, Vol. 10, Robert Wauchope, general editor. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Cepeda Cárdenas, Gerardo 1997 Los nonoalca y sus relaciones con los mixtecos en los siglos XI y XII. In Simposium internacional Tehuacan y su entorno: Balance y perspectivas, edited by de la Lama, Eréndira, pp. 25–44. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, México.Google Scholar
Charlton, Thomas H. 1981 Archaeology, Ethnohistory, and Ethnology: Interpretive Interfaces. Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory 4:129–176.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clavijero, Francisco Javier 2003 Historia antigua de México. Editorial Porrúa, México.Google Scholar
Cobean, Robert H., and Flores, Alba Guadalupe Mastache 2007 Tollan en Hidalgo: La Tollan histórica. Arqueología Mexicana 15:30–35.Google Scholar
Cortés, Hernán 1993 Cartas de relación. 17th ed.Editorial Porrúa, México.Google Scholar
Cowgill, George L. 2008 An Update on Teotihuacan. Antiquity 82:962–975.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davies, Nigel 1973 The Aztecs: A History. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Davies, Nigel 1977 The Toltecs, Until the Fall of Tula. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Davies, Nigel 1980 The Toltec Heritage: From the Fall of Tula to the Rise of Tenochtitlan. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Durán, Fray Diego 1994 The History of the Indies of New Spain. Translated, annotated, and with an introduction by Heyden, Doris. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Dyckerhoff, Ursula 1988 La época prehispánica. In Milpa y hacienda: Tenencia de la tierra indígena y española en la cuenca del Alto Atoyac, Puebla, México (1520–1650), edited by Prem, Hanns J., Dyckerhoff, Ursula and Miehlich, Günter. Translation by Peñaloza, María Martínez, pp. 18–34. Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social/Fondo de Cultura Económica, México City.Google Scholar
García Cook, Ángel 1981 The Historical Importance of Tlaxcala in the Cultural Development of the Central Highlands. In Archaeology, edited by Sabloff, Jeremy A., pp. 244–276. Supplement to the Handbook of Middle American Indians, Vol. 1, Bricker, Victoria Reifer, general editor. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Gillespie, Susan D. 1989 The Aztec Kings: The Construction of Rulership in Mexica History. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
Gillespie, Susan D. 1991 Ballgames and Boundaries. In The Mesoamerican Ballgame, edited by Scarborough, Vernon L. and Wilcox, David R., pp. 317–345. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Graulich, Michel 2005 Autosacrifice in Ancient Mexico. Estudios de Cultura Náhuatl 36:301–309.Google Scholar
Gruzinski, Serge 1993 The Conquest of Mexico: The Incorporation of Indian Societies into the Western World, 16th-18th Centuries. Translated by Corrigan, Eileen. Polity Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Histoire du mechique 2005 In Teogonía e historia de los mexicanos: Tres opúsculos del siglo XVI. 6th ed. Edited by Kinatana, Ángel Maria Garibay. Editorial Porrúa, México.Google Scholar
Hodge, Mary G. 1998 Archaeological Views of Aztec Culture. Journal of Archaeological Research 6(3):197–238.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Isaac, Barry 1983 The Aztec “Flowery War”: A Geopolitical Explanation. Journal of Anthropological Research 39:415–432.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ixtlilxochitl, Fernando de Alva 1965 Obras históricas de don Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxochitl. 2 Vols. Published and annotated by Chavero, Alfredo. Editora Nacional, México City.Google Scholar
Kirchhoff, Paul 1940 Los pueblos de la Historia Tolteca-Chichimeca: Sus migraciones y parentescos. Revista Mexicana de Estudios Antropológicos 4:77–104.Google Scholar
Kirchhoff, Paul, Lina, Odena Güemes and Luis, Reyes García (editors and translators) 1989 Historia Tolteca-Chichimeca. 2nd ed.Centro de Investigaciones Sociales-Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Kubler, George 1972 Mexican Architecture of the Sixteenth Century. 2 Vols. Greenwood Press, Westport.Google Scholar
Leibsohn, Dana 2009 Script and Glyph: Pre-Hispanic History, Colonial Bookmaking and the Historia Tolteca-Chichimeca. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Mastache, Alba Guadalupe, Cobean, Robert H., Crespo, Ana María, and Healan, Dan M. 1982 Estudios sobre la antigua ciudad de Tula. Colección Científica 121. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City.Google Scholar
McCafferty, Geoffrey G. 1996 Reinterpreting the Great Pyramid of Cholula, Mexico. Ancient Mesoamerica 7:1–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morales Cano, Lucero 1991 Atlixco prehispánico. Unpublished Licenciatura thesis, Department of Anthropology, University of the Americas, Cholula, Puebla.Google Scholar
Morales Cano, Lucero 2009 La escultura prehispánica y propuesta para su protección. In Dioses, ánimas y hombres: Siglos de historia plasmada en la riqueza cultural de Huaquechula, compiled by Cano, Lucero Morales, 27–44. Manuscript on file, Centro Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Puebla.Google Scholar
Morales Cano, Lucero, and Carrera, Arnulfo Allende 2009 Dictamen sobre la presencia y afectación a los vestigios arqueológicas en la zona arqueológica de Atlixco, Puebla, ubicados en el Cerro San Miguel. Manuscript on file, Centro Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Puebla.Google Scholar
Motolinía, Fray Toribio de Benavente 1995 Historia de los indios de la Nueva España. 6th ed. Critical Study, Appendices, Notes, and Index by O'Gorman, Edmundo. Editorial Porrúa, México City.Google Scholar
Muñoz Camargo, Diego 1998 Historia de Tlaxcala (MS 210 de la Biblioteca Nacional de París). Paleography, introduction, notes, appendices, and analytical indices by Luis Reyes García, with the collaboration of Javier Lira Toledo. Gobierno del Estado de Tlaxcala/Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiors en Antropología Social, Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala, Tlaxcala.Google Scholar
Nicholson, Henry B. 1955 Native Historical Traditions of Nuclear America and the Problem of Their Archaeological Correlation. American Anthropologist 57:594–613.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Niederberger, Christine 1976 Zohapilco: Cinco milenios de ocupación humana en un sitio lacustre en la Cuenca de México. Colección Científica 30. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, México City.Google Scholar
Norr, Lynette 1987 Appendix I: Postclassic Artifacts from Tetla. In Ancient Chalcatzingo, edited by Grove, David C., pp. 525–546. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Paredes Martínez, Carlos Salvador 1991 La región de Atlixco, Huaquechula y Tochimilco: La sociedad y su agricultura en el siglo XVI. Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social/Fondo de Cultura Económica, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Parsons, Jeffrey R., Brumfield, Elizabeth, Parsons, Mary H., and Wilson, David J. 1982 Pre-Hispanic Settlement Patterns in the Southern Valley of Mexico: The Chalco-Xochimilco Region. Museum of Anthropology, Memoirs 14. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Plunket, Patricia 1990 Arqueología y etnohistoria en el Valle de Atlixco. Notas Mesoamericanas 12:3–18.Google Scholar
Plunket, Patricia 2005 Recent Research in Puebla Prehistory. Journal of Archaeological Research 13:89–127.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Plunket, Patricia, and Blanco, Mónica 1989 Teotihuacan y el valle de Atlixco. Notas Mesoamericanas 11:120–132.Google Scholar
Plunket, Patricia, and Uruñuela, Gabriela 1991–1992 La escultura postclásica en el Valle de Atlixco. Notas Mesoamericanas 13:35–49.Google Scholar
Plunket, Patricia, and Uruñuela, Gabriela 1994 The Impact of the Xochiyaoyotl in Southwestern Puebla. In Economies and Polities in the Aztec Realm, edited by Hodge, Mary G. and Smith, Michael E., pp. 433–446. Institute for Mesoamerican Studies, Studies on Culture and Society 6. State University of New York at Albany, University of Press of Colorado, Boulder.Google Scholar
Plunket, Patricia, and Uruñuela, Gabriela 2001 Puebla-Tlaxcala Region. In The Archaeology of Ancient Mexico and Central America: An Encyclopedia, edited by Evans, Susan and Webster, David, pp. 611–617. Garland Press, New York.Google Scholar
Plunket, Patricia, and Uruñuela, Gabriela 2012 Where East Meets West: The Formative in Mexico's Central Highlands. Journal of Archaeological Research 20:1–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pohl, John M. D. 2003a Creation Stories, Hero Cults, and Alliance Building: Confederacies of Central and Southern Mexico. In The Postclassic Mesoamerican World, edited by Smith, Michael E. and Berdan, Frances F., pp. 61–66. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Pohl, John M. D. 2003b Ritual Ideology and Commerce in the Southern Mexican Highlands. In The Postclassic Mesoamerican World, edited by Smith, Michael E. and Berdan, Frances F., pp. 172–177. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Pohl, John M. D. 2003c Royal Marriage and Confederacy Building among the Eastern Nahuas, Mixtecs, and Zapotecs. In The Postclassic Mesoamerican World, edited by Smith, Michael E. and Berdan, Frances F., pp. 243–248. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Rattray, Evelyn C. 1981 Anaranjado delgado: Cerámica de comercio de Teotihuacan. In Interacción cultural en México central, compiled by Rattray, Evelyn C., King, Jaime Litvak, and Oyarzábal, Clara Díaz, pp. 55–80. Instituto de Investigaciones Antropológicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Reyes García, Luis 1988 Cuauhtinchan del siglo XII al XVI: Formación y desarollo histórico de un señorío prehispánico. Fondo de Cultura Económica, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Ruiz Medrano, Ethelia 2007 The Lords of the Land: The Historical Context of the Mapa de Cuauhtinchan No. 2. In Cave, City, and Eagle's Nest: An Interpretive Journey through the Mapa de Cuauhtinchan No. 2, edited by Carrasco, David and Sessions, Scott, pp. 91–119. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Sánchez de la Barquera Arroyo, Elvia Cristina 1996 Figurillas prehispánicas del valle de Atlixco. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Puebla.Google Scholar
Santley, Robert S., Berman, Michael J., and Alexander, Rani T. 1991 The Politicization of the Mesoamerican Ballgame and Its Implications for the Interpretation of the Distribution of Ballcourts in Central Mexico. In The Mesoamerican Ballgame, edited by Scarborough, Vernon L. and Wilcox, David R., pp. 3–24. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schmidt, Peter 1974 Informe sobre la zona arqueológica en el lado oueste del Cerro San Miguel, Atlixco, Puebla. Manuscript on file, Centro Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Puebla.Google Scholar
Smith, Michael E. 1984 The Aztlan Migrations of the Nahuatl Chronicles: Myth or History? Ethnohistory 31(3):153–186.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, Michael E. 2003a Small Polities in Postclassic Mesoamerica. In The Postclassic Mesoamerican World, edited by Smith, Michael E. and Berdan, Frances F., pp. 35–39. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Smith, Michael E. 2003b The Aztecs. 2nd ed.Blackwell, Oxford.Google Scholar
Spores, Ronald 1972 An Archaeological Settlement Survey of the Nochixtlán Valley, Oaxaca. Publications in Anthropology No. 1. Vanderbilt University, Nashville.Google Scholar
Suárez, Sergio 1985 Informe de la inspección realizada el día jueves 23 de mayo de 1985 a la ciudad de Atlixco, Puebla. Manuscript on file, Centro Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Puebla.Google Scholar
Tezozómoc, Fernando Alvarado 1975 Crónica mexicana. Annotated by Orozco, Manuel y Berra, and preceded by the Codice Ramírez, untitled manuscript. Editorial Porrúa, México City.Google Scholar
Torquemada, Fray Juan de 1975–1983 Monarquía indiana: De los veinte y un libros rituales y monarquía indiana, con el origen y guerra de los Indios Occidentales, de sus poblazones, descubrimientos, conquista, conversión y otras cosas maravillosas de la mesma tierra. 7 Vols. Edition prepared by the Seminary for the Study of Sources of Indigenous Tradition, under the coordination of Miguel León-Portilla. Instituto de Investigaciones Históricas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México.Google Scholar
Tschohl, Peter 1977 Catálogo arqueológico y etnohistórico de Puebla-Tlaxcala, México: Ch-O. Proyecto Puebla-Tlaxcala, Fundación Alemana para la Investigación Científica, Köln.Google Scholar
Umberger, Emily 1996 Aztec Presence and Material Remains in the Outer Provinces. In Aztec Imperial Strategies, edited by Berdan, Frances F., Blanton, Richard E., Boone, Elizabeth Hill, Hodge, Mary G., Smith, Michael E., and Umberger, Emily, pp. 151–179. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Uruñuela, Gabriela 1989 Investigaciones arqueológicas en Colotzingo, Puebla. Notas Mesoamericanas 11:110–119.Google Scholar
Vázquez de Tapia, Bernardino 1972 Relación de méritos y servicios del conquistador Bernardino Vázquez de Tapia, vecino y regidor de esta gran ciudad de Tenustitlán, México. Study and notes by Jorge Gurría Lacroix. Universidad Nacional Autonóma de México, México City.Google Scholar
Velazco, Salvador 2003 Visiones de Anáhuac. Reconstrucciones historiográficas y etnicidades emergentes en el México colonial: Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxóchitl, Diego Muñoz Camargo y Hernando Alvarado Tezozómoc. Universidad de Guadalajara, Guadalajara.Google Scholar
Veytia, Mariano 1944 Historia antigua de México. 2 Vols. Editorial Leyenda, México City.Google Scholar