Huatusco
Huatusco (also called Huatusco Viejo ) is a pre-Columbian ruin site in the Mexican state of Veracruz . Originally, the site was possibly part of the culture of the Totonac to; in its later period it was conquered by the Aztecs and architecturally redesigned.
location
The ruins of Huatusco (also called Huatusco Viejo ) are located near the small, almost deserted town of Santiago Huatusco in the municipality of Carrillo Puerto on the north bank of the Río Cotaxtla in the grounds of Rancho El Fortín . The importance of the site consists in a relatively well-preserved - albeit unrestored - temple pyramid from the time of the Aztec Empire, on which most of the actual temple structure still stands. The archaeological site should not be confused with the provincial town of Huatusco de Chicuellar, about 60 km northwest .
history
The place called today Santiago Huatusco was under the name Cuauhtochco in Aztec times the capital of an Aztec-speaking province in which there was a garrison of the Aztec Triple Alliance . In the course of the conquest by the Spanish conquistadors , these garrisons were only conquered by Gonzalo de Sandoval in November 1521, after the fall of Tenochtitlan . After a short time under the encomendero Francisco de Bonal, the place was transferred to the Spanish crown around 1535. The previously dense population in the entire coastal country was almost wiped out, mainly due to severe epidemics around the middle of the 16th century. With the founding of the city of Cordoba in 1618, the state and ecclesiastical institutions were moved there from Santiago Huatusco. The name Huatusco was transferred to the town of San Antonio Huatusco further west. Santiago Huatusco currently has around 150 inhabitants.
Presumably because - due to the rapid depopulation - the area was of little interest in the colonial era, a small number of cult buildings from the pre-Hispanic period could remain undetected and therefore undamaged. While the post-classical pyramid at Castillo de Teayo is well known and widely visited, that of Huatusco has received little attention.
buildings
Overall system
The still unrestored ruins of Huatusco lie on a spur of terrain reaching south more than 100 m above the bed of the Río Atoyac on its northern bank. Access from the south via an extension of the spur is blocked by a well-preserved fortification with at least two walls made of round, unworked river stones. The surface of the terrain spur is divided into two parts by a depression. In the northern, larger one, there are several heavily destroyed buildings and large terraces.
pyramid
All buildings are dominated by the central pyramid, a four-step structure on a low platform that is oriented to the west. This structure is undoubtedly the best preserved temple of the late post-classical period in western Mesoamerica. A wide staircase, accompanied by stringers and protruding slightly above the actual pyramid body, leads without a step to the top platform of the pyramid. The number of steps appears to have been about 52.
temple
What is particularly striking is the remarkably large, moderately preserved temple building, the outer walls of which have been preserved to the full height of 7 to 8 m, while the wall with the wide entrance facing west is completely missing in its upper half, presumably because the wooden door beams supporting it absence. The facade of the outer walls is divided horizontally in three ways: the walls are vertical up to a height of approx. 2.30 m; then, over a small protruding cornice, the walls recede slightly inward. A further, only slightly protruding cornice is followed by a rectangular, recessed field that takes up almost the entire upper third of the wall and into which stone pegs, which form a so-called “starry sky frieze”, are embedded.
Similar to Teayo, the interior was divided into floors. Three ceiling levels can be seen in Huatusco. The lowest level at a height of approx. 2.50 m was formed by a ceiling made of east-west running, close-fitting wooden beams that lay in a brick groove in all walls. In the middle of the narrow sides of the room they were placed on a wooden support beam, which was anchored deep in the side walls, but also rested on brick pillars protruding from the side walls. Because of the length of the room, it must be assumed that the beam was supported at least twice by wooden or brick pillars. The second level was formed by wooden beams that were also laid parallel to the narrow side of the room, but at intervals of about 1 m, which were embedded in the long wall. The remains of these beams are still numerous in the wall openings. Here, too, there was a crossbeam that ran from the middle of the northern to the southeastern narrow side. The third level again consisted of a construction made of presumably closely placed wooden beams. There are no signs of crossbeams (any more). Even above this level, which presumably supported the flat stucco roof, the side walls continued a little to give the roof structure lateral support. The rooms above the first and second intermediate floor had a significantly lower height than the lowest. It is uncertain whether and for what purpose they were used, or whether they only served to reach the height that is important for the visual impression.
See also
literature
- Alfonso Medellín Zenil: Exploraciones en Quauhtochco . Gobierno del Estado de Veracruz, Departamento de Antropología Jalapa 1952.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Peter Gerhard: Geografía histórica de la Nueva España, 1519-1821 . Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México 1986. ISBN 968-36-0293-2
Coordinates: 18 ° 49 ′ N , 96 ° 34 ′ W