Ancient Civilizations of the Americas Lecture 18:

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Ancient Civilizations of the Americas Lecture
18

• The Late Classic 300-900 AD

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Political Geography of the Classical Period
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• Puebla-Tlaxcala Plateau
• Florescence begins in Late Preclassic (300 BC).
• 25 Planned civic-ceremonial centers
• Earliest examples of tablud-tablero architecture
  
• Cholula Located on a high plain at 6,912 ft.
  beneath volcanos of Popocatépetl and Ixtacihuatl.
• Settlement commences 1700 BC with two villages.

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Great Pyramid of Tipanipa cover 45 acres/177
ft. high
Construction commences 100 BC, called
tlachiualtepetl in the Postclassic Historia
Toteca-Chichimeca
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Cholula cont. Enormous pyramid consists of nine
levels. Excavated in 1968 by tunneling Mural de
los Bebedores
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• Cholula falls 600 AD, thereafter becomes the
  principle capital of the Olmeca-Xicalanca.
• In Historia Tolteca-Chichimeca Cholula is said to
  be governed by a pair of priests the tlalchiyach
  and the aquiach. Various scholars (eg. William
  Ringle) have argued that in Postclassic times
  Cholula was considered to be a Tolan, where
  rulers came to gain legitimacy. This seems to be
  borne out by the Mixtec Codex Nuttall, which
  recounts how a leader 8 Deer goes to Cholula to
  get his nose pierced.

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Cacaxtla

• Settlement founded in the Preclassic on a hilltop
• Period of fluorescence 650-900 AD
• Said to be a capital of the Olmeca-Xicalanca

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From the Red Temple
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• Battle mural shows battle between Jaguar and
  Bird warriors. May be relating a foundation
  myth involving capture of Bird queen, who
  became founder of a dynasty.
• Nearby site of Xochitecatl has pyramid dedicated
  to a fertility goddess.

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Xochicalco, Morelos
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• Founded CE 650
• So-far undeciphered hieroglyphs were found on the
  temple of the Feathered Serpent and on stelae.
• In Ann Cyphers opinion, pottery found on the
  site, Xochicalco Polished, seems related to
  pottery of the Olmeca-Xicallanca.

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