Tula Ruins

Tags: Hidalgo, Mexico, Tula

Date: June 12, 2024

In addition to visiting the National Park part of the Tula site we also visited the Toltec ruins and started with a view of the ubiquitous ball court:

The Tula site is important to the history of Mesoamerica, especially the central highlands of Mexico. It is generally overshadowed by its predecessor Teotihuacan (the empire in the Mexican City valley that came before the Aztecs). And its successor in Tenochtitlan (which is the name of the place we saw in Mexico City that was the capital of the Aztec empire). Tula has not been very well studied (yet), and many aspects of its political system, area of influence and relations with contemporary Mesoamerican cities remain largely unknown. Similarities in various art and architectural styles seem to indicate a connection to the Maya site of Chichen Itza.

The earliest well-defined settlements in the Tula area appeared around 400 BC and the city rose to prominence after the fall of Teotihuacan. It reached its height as the capital of the Toltec empire between 900 and 1150 AD, after which the city collapsed and was abandoned.

The major attraction of the site is the so-called Pyramid B or Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl or Pyramid of the Morning Star. It is the five-tiered structure seen in the background below:

Quetzalcoatl was the major deity in several of the Mesoamerican cultures. It was the God of life, light and wisdom, lord of the day and the winds. The name Quetzalcoatl means the Feathered Serpent in Nahuatl (the language the Aztecs spoke) and Quetzalcoatl is often depicted as a feathered serpent. The Mayans also had a version of this deity and they called it Kukulkan.

The Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl resembles the Temple of the Warriors at Chichen Itza — among the similarities are the tiered structure, the presence of almost identical sacrificial altars (Chac Mool), a pair of snake columns flanking the entrance to the (now largely missing) temple on top of the pyramid and rows of stone columns depicting warriors on top of the pyramid.

The Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl has four massive basalt columns each carved in the likeness of Toltec warriors which once supported the roof of the temple on top of the pyramid. Each warrior figure is four meters high, with an atlatl or spear thrower, a butterfly shaped chest plate and a back plate in the shape of a solar disk:

The partial column in the right foreground demonstrates how the columns were held together almost like LEGO stacked on top of each other:

The solar disk back plate is visible on this column:

The square columns in the back have carvings that have been interpreted as depicting the priest-king Cē Ācatl Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl, who ruled from 923 to 947:

View of contemporay Tula from the top of the Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl:

The Tula archeological site is located on a limestone outcropping high above the surrounding area and with steep banks on three sides, making it defensible.

Here is one of two Chac Mool sacrificial altars placed at the foot of the Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl:

Chac Mools are shaped like a reclining human figure with bent knees and the hands holding a rectangular tray on its stomach. Both Chac Mools at Tula had their heads missing.

On the back side of the Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl is a wall decorated with carvings:

The middle section is a frieze of snakes eating human skeletons. While the current remains have lost the original color, Toltec artwork was likely once painted in bright greens and reds:

View from the top of the Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl. The pyramid in the left of the picture is Pyramid C:

Looking to the right we can see part of the large ceremonial square with first the "adoratorio" in the middle of the square, the "Tzompantli" (the long low platform) and in the far background, a second ball court:

Tzompantli translates to "skull rack" and was a type of wooden rack or palisade that would have been placed on top of the low platform and used for the public display of human skulls, typically those of war captives or other sacrificial victims. Identical structures have been found both at the Mayan city of Chichen Itza and the Aztec Templo Mayor, underlining the similarities in customs and beliefs between many Mesoamerican cultures.

Turning even further to the right we have an overview of the so-called burned palace consisting of rows and rows of round and square columns:

Here we are standing on the ceremonial square looking towards pyramid C and the Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl:

The second ball court:

Close-up of the "adoratorio" — a kind of altar where rituals for different deities would be performed and offerings presented:

Bjarne in front of the Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl:

At the end of our visit we had a short glance at the small museum attached to the archeological site. Here is stele with a carving of a Toltec warrior:

A Chac Mool (reproduction?) with an intact head:

A vest made of carved rectangular pieces of sea shells and lined with intact shells:

The museum had time line showing highlight of the different Mesoamerican civilizations:

The bottom part showed contemporary events from other parts of the world and we quickly spotted this one:

Erik el Rojo (Erik den Røde) discovering Greenland in 982 AD!