Hinged on the decline of the Teotihuacan empire, the Epi-Classic marks the end of the Classic Period in Mexico. Teotihuacan's fall brought a vacuum of political power that others quickly sought to take. The most important of these upstart groups were the Xicallanca, a civilization established in the southern Gulf Coast, in what is today Tabasco state. The Xicallanca had connections with the Maya to the east, and they brought many features of Maya culture into the Central Mexican highlands as they made their way inwards.
Cacaxtla is in the state of Tlaxcala, east of Mexico City. Its current name comes from the 'packframe' lattice designs adorning its building panels. What is most remarkable about this site, however, are its superbly painted murals, which had been preserved beneath dirt and ash. Many of the scenes portray mythical episodes or priestly figures with clear Maya influence. The bird priest detail at right holds a staff crafted into a two-headed creature, a sign of authority used by Maya kings.
National Museum of Anthropology and History
Highland city-states such as Xochicalco had already been settled before the Xicallanca invasions. It was during Xicallanca occupation, however, that they became quite formidable. Once the Xicallanca took over cities in the Central Mexican highlands, they worked hard to hold onto them. In the case of Xochicalco, they fortified and walled the city to protect it from siege.
Xochicalco art is an interesting combination of styles from the Maya, Teotihuacan, and other civilizations. The city was the first place to portray the Feathered Serpent as a human and relate this god to creation myths. This pillar is one of a series of three from the site, each with a different deity's face. Here a god emerges from a beast's open jaws, perhaps a reference to the Vision Serpents that carried royal ancestor spirits in Maya religion.
National Museum of Anthropology and History
In the Gulf Coast and Central Highland regions of Mexico, stone "hachas" were set as markers in courts for the famous ball game. This one is unique for its intricately sculpted head of a parrot, most likely a macaw, a creature representing royal authority among the Maya.
National Museum of Anthropology and History
While the painted murals of Cacaxtla showed prominently masculine figures and activity, the nearby city of Xochitecatl had a surprising amount of feminine symbolism. Stylized metate grinding querns, associated with women's activity, decorated the buildings of Xochitecatl, and colorful ceramic figurines such as these were common. The figure at left has a detachable panel (not featured here) that could be attached to the hollow womb; an infant on the panel's inner side suggests important themes of fertility and creation.
National Museum of Anthropology and History
As the Xicallanca and Toltec were expanding their respective empires, they required massive, dedicated armies to maintain power. These cultures glorified military service, and they offered commoners the opportunity to gain status if they fought as soldiers. Ideas of manifest destiny through conquest began to prevail, and thus military symbolism flourished during the Epi-Classic Period. (The Aztecs would inherit these ideas and take them ever further.)
The plaque at left is carved into a relief of spears, and the one at right depicts zaca-tapayolli, a 'grass ball' into which soldiers sprinkled some of their own blood in self-sacrifice.
National Museum of Anthropology and History
Near the foot of the Popocatepetl volcano in Puebla, Cholula was another great city with deep roots before Xicallanca occupation. The first settlements date to as early as 500 BC, yet it took on its distinct "Cholula" character by the first century AD. Its architectural and artistic influences are diverse, revealing cultural borrowings from Teotihuacan, the Zapotec, the Maya, and in later centuries the Xicallanca and even the Aztecs.
The pyramid, commonly identified as a temple to the Feathered Serpent, is the world's largest single monumental structure. It stands at 177 feet tall, upon a 45-acre base. It was so enormous that the Aztecs that later recorded Xicallanca history called this pyramid the Tlachihual-tepetl or 'Artificial Mountain.' Built upon a spring well, the pyramid once housed a shrine to the rain god at its peak. The Spanish chapel to Our Lady of Remedies now stands atop. However, to many modern natives the pyramid keeps its native spirituality because of its immense magnitude and nature connections.
Cholula
This scale model of the pyramid shows a cut view of the several building phases that the pyramid underwent across the centuries. The original foundation, toward the center, was rather small. In ancient Mesoamerica it was actually common to build over previous temples! The Mesoamerican cultures gave priority to the sacred quality of the place itself, and the temple expansions were means to give it greater glory.
Most of what is known about the older building phases comes from years of extensive excavations as archaeologists cut a network of arched tunnels through parts of the interior brickwork. These tunnels together count for almost five miles!
Cholula Site Museum
Through the ninth century the Xicallanca invaders gradually established themselves as the rulers of Cholula. The site's museum notes that certain traditions accompanied this change in leadership, including new burial practices and ceramic designs. These vessels are examples of styles inspired by the Xicallanca. At left is a plate with the curious figure of a squatting creature like a coati or coyote. The pitcher at right follows a "red-on-brown" ceramic style distinct to the first wave of Xicallanca occupation.
Cholula Site Museum
Around the Cholula plaza stand a series of enigmatic monoliths with a clear façade surrounded by a frame of repeating whorls. These look to be altars, and their front panels were likely painted in brilliant hues. Whatever spectacular paintings they originally had must have been lost to the elements, however. The whorl patterns remain noteworthy in any case because they recall similar designs from Tajín , near the Gulf of Mexico. This suggests that the Xicallanca perhaps traveled along the Gulf Coast until they reached the civilizations of central Veracruz, whence they began migrating toward the highland Mexican interior.
Cholula
Beneath the south side of the Tlachihualtepetl pyramid is a complex of ritual sculptures and buildings surrounding a patio. The camera sweep begins facing east toward Altar 1. Next appear a couple of monolithic sculptures depicting a jaguar body and head. Altar 2 is a heavy eroded slab in the northeast corner, and Altar 3 rises to a pointed angle. The latter was discovered almost 130 feet away from its base, which stands at the patio's west end. The three altars have decorations and offerings associated with the Feathered Serpent. Immediately behind the west platform is a small enclosure with a remarkably well-preserved mural with elements representing the planet Venus, regarded a powerful warrior deity.
(It was a windy day, thanks to the Feathered Serpent!)
Cholula