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146-670: In later generations, he was a culture hero and figure of legend often confused or conflated with the important Mesoamerican deity Quetzalcoatl . According to legend in El Salvador , the city of Cuzcatlán (the capital city of the Pipil/Cuzcatlecs) was founded by the exiled Toltec Ce Acatl Topiltzin. Topiltzin Cē Ācatl Quetzalcōatl was the Lord of the Toltecs and their major city Tōllan . One version of

292-461: A complex calendric system , a tradition of ball playing , and a distinct architectural style , were diffused through the area. Villages began to become socially stratified and develop into chiefdoms , and large ceremonial centers were built, interconnected by a network of trade routes for the exchange of luxury goods, such as obsidian , jade , cacao , cinnabar , Spondylus shells, hematite , and ceramics. While Mesoamerican civilization knew of

438-672: A cave in Oaxaca. Earlier maize samples have been documented at the Los Ladrones cave site in Panama , c. 5500 BCE. Slightly thereafter, semi- agrarian communities began to cultivate other crops throughout Mesoamerica. Maize was the most common domesticate, but the common bean, tepary bean, scarlet runner bean, jicama , tomato and squash all became common cultivates by 3500 BCE. At the same time, these communities exploited cotton , yucca , and agave for fibers and textile materials. By 2000 BCE, corn

584-431: A cultural area based on a suite of interrelated cultural similarities brought about by millennia of inter- and intra-regional interaction (i.e., diffusion ). Mesoamerica is recognized as a near-prototypical cultural area. This term is now fully integrated into the standard terminology of precolumbian anthropological studies. Conversely, the sister terms Aridoamerica and Oasisamerica , which refer to northern Mexico and

730-456: A curved baton (the chicoacolli ) and a feather rimmed shield with the ehecacozcatl (wind jewel) emblem on it. Five major sources discuss the mythical history and origin of Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl. While the stories provided by these sources may conflict somewhat, they provide insight into the different uses of the name Quetzalcoatl. The first source was produced by an unknown Spaniard which

876-538: A depiction of the same feathered-serpent deity worshipped in classic and post-classic periods, it shows the continuity of symbolism of feathered snakes in Mesoamerica from the formative period and on, for example in comparison to the Maya Vision Serpent shown below. The first culture to use the symbol of a feathered serpent as an important religious and political symbol was that of Teotihuacan . At temples such as

1022-508: A dramatic spread of feathered serpent iconography is evidenced throughout Mesoamerica, and during this period images begin to figure prominently at sites such as Chichén Itzá , El Tajín , and throughout the Maya area. Colonial documentary sources from the Maya area frequently speak of the arrival of foreigners from the central Mexican plateau, often led by a man whose name translates as "Feathered Serpent". It has been suggested that these stories recall

1168-661: A female dragon deity); the Megami Tensei video game franchise; the video games Fate/Grand Order , Final Fantasy VIII , Final Fantasy XV , Sanitarium , Smite (as an alternate costume for his Mayan counterpart, Kukulkan), and Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine ; as the main antagonist in the Star Trek: The Animated Series episode " How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth "; and in The Secrets of

1314-446: A group of Franciscan friars in 1532 and translated from original text. They are known collectively as the Libro de oro y tesoro indico . In the friars' translation Topiltzin is the son of Totepeuh , who is the leader of Teocolhuacan . His brother-in-law kills his father but after building a temple for his father, Topiltzin gets his revenge. The migration to Tollan and later to Tlapallan

1460-747: A low plateau that breaks up the Sierra Madre chain between the Sierra Madre del Sur to the north and the Sierra Madre de Chiapas to the south. At its highest point, the Isthmus is 224 m (735 ft) above mean sea level. This area also represents the shortest distance between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean in Mexico. The distance between the two coasts is roughly 200 km (120 mi). The northern side of

1606-467: A majority of Mesoamericanist scholars, such as Matthew Restall (2003, 2018 ), James Lockhart (1994), Susan D. Gillespie (1989), Camilla Townsend (2003a, 2003b), Louise Burkhart , Michel Graulich and Michael E. Smith (2003), among others, consider the "Quetzalcoatl/Cortés myth" as one of many myths about the Spanish conquest which have risen in the early post-conquest period. There is no question that

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1752-656: A period commonly known as the Tikal Hiatus . The Late Classic period (beginning c. 600 CE until 909 CE) is characterized as a period of interregional competition and factionalization among the numerous regional polities in the Maya area. This largely resulted from the decrease in Tikal's socio-political and economic power at the beginning of the period. It was therefore during this time that other sites rose to regional prominence and were able to exert greater interregional influence, including Caracol, Copán , Palenque , and Calakmul (which

1898-630: A powerful confederacy of Eastern Nahuas, Mixtecs and Zapotecs, along with the peoples they dominated throughout southern Mexico between 1200 and 1600 (Pohl, Fields, and Lyall 2012, Harvey 2012, Pohl 2003). They maintained a major pilgrimage and commercial center at Cholula, Puebla which the Spaniards compared to both Rome and Mecca because the cult of the god united its constituents through a field of common social, political, and religious values without dominating them militarily. This confederacy engaged in almost seventy-five years of nearly continuous conflict with

2044-686: A regionally important center during the Postclassic. The latter portion of the Postclassic is generally associated with the rise of the Mexica and the Aztec Empire . One of the more commonly known cultural groups in Mesoamerica, the Aztec politically dominated nearly all of central Mexico, the Gulf Coast, Mexico's southern Pacific Coast (Chiapas and into Guatemala), Oaxaca, and Guerrero . The Tarascans (also known as

2190-738: A slapstick-style chase scene, Xavier winds up as the Sun God and commits "sacricide" (sacrificial suicide), ending the skit. Quetzalcoatl appears in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Thor: Love and Thunder . He appears seated in Omnipotence City of the gods, where all major deities are located, during an announcement from leader of the gods, Zeus . Quetzalcoatl also features in several songs by The Mountain Goats , an indie folk-rock band, such as Quetzalcoatl eats Plums and Quetzalcoatl

2336-704: A speech which, as described in the codex written by the Franciscan Bernardino de Sahagún and his Tlatelolcan informants, included such prostrate declarations of divine or near-divine admiration as: You have graciously come on earth, you have graciously approached your water, your high place of Mexico, you have come down to your mat, your throne, which I have briefly kept for you, I who used to keep it for you. and: You have graciously arrived, you have known pain, you have known weariness, now come on earth, take your rest, enter into your palace, rest your limbs; may our lords come on earth. The exact intent of these words

2482-485: A stone chest, adorn him in turquoise, and then, laying in the chest, set himself on fire . His ashes rose into the sky and then his heart followed, becoming the morning star (see Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli ). He is also attributed with having brought the cacao plant from a sacred mountain to the Toltec people, teaching the women how to make traditional drinking chocolate. Since the sixteenth century, it has been widely held that

2628-480: A technological departure from previous construction techniques. Major Puuc sites include Uxmal , Sayil , Labna , Kabah , and Oxkintok . While generally concentrated within the area in and around the Puuc hills , the style has been documented as far away as at Chichen Itza to the east and Edzna to the south. Chichén Itzá was originally thought to have been a Postclassic site in the northern Maya lowlands. Research over

2774-494: Is Pico de Orizaba , a dormant volcano located on the border of Puebla and Veracruz . Its peak elevation is 5,636 m (18,490 ft). The Sierra Madre mountains, which consist of several smaller ranges, run from northern Mesoamerica south through Costa Rica . The chain is historically volcanic . In central and southern Mexico, a portion of the Sierra Madre chain is known as the Eje Volcánico Transversal , or

2920-491: Is a historical region and cultural area that begins in the southern part of North America and extends to the Pacific coast of Central America, thus comprising the lands of central and southern Mexico, all of Belize , Guatemala , El Salvador , and parts of Honduras , Nicaragua and Costa Rica . As a cultural area, Mesoamerica is defined by a mosaic of cultural traits developed and shared by its indigenous cultures. In

3066-475: Is a list of some of the specialized resources traded from the various Mesoamerican sub-regions and environmental contexts: Mesoamerican architecture is the collective name given to urban, ceremonial and public structures built by pre-Columbian civilizations in Mesoamerica. Although very different in styles, all kinds of Mesoamerican architecture show some kind of interrelation, due to very significant cultural exchanges that occurred during thousands of years. Among

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3212-619: Is another Classic-period polity that expanded and flourished during this period, but the Zapotec capital exerted less interregional influence than the other two sites. During the Early Classic, Teotihuacan participated in and perhaps dominated a far-reaching macro-regional interaction network. Architectural and artifact styles (talud-tablero, tripod slab-footed ceramic vessels) epitomized at Teotihuacan were mimicked and adopted at many distant settlements. Pachuca obsidian, whose trade and distribution

3358-453: Is argued to have been economically controlled by Teotihuacan, is found throughout Mesoamerica. Tikal came to dominate much of the southern Maya lowlands politically, economically, and militarily during the Early Classic. An exchange network centered at Tikal distributed a variety of goods and commodities throughout southeast Mesoamerica, such as obsidian imported from central Mexico (e.g., Pachuca) and highland Guatemala (e.g., El Chayal , which

3504-457: Is involved, but this time he is told to go by Tezcatlipoca. The reason for this is because the King would not allow what Tezcatlipoca wanted, human sacrifice. So he leaves, as in the previous version, with his Toltec in tow. This third translation, which is written by French cosmographer André de Thevet , was translated from a lost Spanish version in the sixteenth century. In this version, Quetzalcoatl

3650-696: Is located 70 km (43 mi) southeast of Mexico City. Other volcanoes of note include Tacana on the Mexico–Guatemala border, Tajumulco and Santamaría in Guatemala, Izalco in El Salvador, Arenal in Costa Rica, and Concepción and Maderas on Ometepe , which is an island formed by both volcanoes rising out of Lake Cocibolca in Nicaragua. One important topographic feature is the Isthmus of Tehuantepec ,

3796-449: Is marked by the rise and dominance of several polities. The traditional distinction between the Early and Late Classic is marked by their changing fortune and their ability to maintain regional primacy. Of paramount importance are Teotihuacán in central Mexico and Tikal in Guatemala; the Early Classic's temporal limits generally correlate to the main periods of these sites. Monte Albán in Oaxaca

3942-409: Is not rigid. The Maya area, for example, can be divided into two general groups: the lowlands and highlands. The lowlands are further divided into the southern and northern Maya lowlands. The southern Maya lowlands are generally regarded as encompassing northern Guatemala , southern Campeche and Quintana Roo in Mexico, and Belize . The northern lowlands cover the remainder of the northern portion of

4088-696: Is one notable difference between Mesoamerica and the cultures of the South American Andes. Other animals, including the duck , dogs , and turkey , were domesticated . Turkey was the first to be domesticated locally, around 3500 BCE. Dogs were the primary source of animal protein in ancient Mesoamerica, and dog bones are common in midden deposits throughout the region. Societies of this region did hunt certain wild species for food. These animals included deer, rabbit , birds, and various types of insects. They also hunted for luxury items, such as feline fur and bird plumage. Mesoamerican cultures that lived in

4234-483: Is probably the most comprehensive version, because of the slight variations that are not seen in the others. A Nahua native wrote the fourth translation, the Leyenda de los soles . It's very similar to the first translation, but it gives an in-depth account of Mixcoatl's adventures especially his meeting with Quetzalcoatl's mother. It also states that Quetzalcoatl is supernatural and godlike. This final major translation

4380-450: Is son to Camaxtli and Chimalman ; his mother still died after birth. This time, he has brothers who are bent on killing him, but he eludes them twice. After they kill their father, he kills them in a series of side stories. He becomes the ruler, migrates to Tollan, and is believed to be a sorcerer god ruling for 160 years. Later, he encounters Tezcatlipoca once again, who is jealous of the Toltecs' adoration for their god, and so drives out

4526-585: Is spoofed in the Adult Swim CGI series Xavier: Renegade Angel . In the episode "Damnesia Vu," (Season 2 EP 6) Xavier winds up in the Aztec world and is immediately (and unsuccessfully) sacrificed for insulting the Sun God, and during the sacrifice the Aztecs humorously fail to pronounce his name. Later, Xavier and the Aztecs summon Quetzalcoatl in his mortal form and wind up angering him after cutting him open. After

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4672-590: Is the largest lake in Mesoamerica. Lake Chapala is Mexico's largest freshwater lake, but Lake Texcoco is perhaps most well known as the location upon which Tenochtitlan , capital of the Aztec Empire, was founded. Lake Petén Itzá , in northern Guatemala, is notable as where the last independent Maya city, Tayasal (or Noh Petén), held out against the Spanish until 1697. Other large lakes include Lake Atitlán , Lake Izabal , Lake Güija , Lemoa and Lake Xolotlan . Almost all ecosystems are present in Mesoamerica;

4818-399: Is uncertain. The rhetorical style of classic Nahuatl was full of subtle nuances and is still not well understood. Matthew Restall argues that if Moctezuma's politely offered his throne to Cortés, it may have been meant as the exact opposite since politeness in Aztec culture was a way to assert dominance and show superiority. This speech, which has been widely referred to, has been a factor in

4964-703: The Aztec Emperor Moctezuma II initially believed the landing of Hernán Cortés in 1519 to be Quetzalcoatl's return. This view has been questioned by ethno-historians who argue that the Quetzalcoatl-Cortés connection is not found in any document that was created independently of post-Conquest Spanish influence, and that there is little proof of a pre-Hispanic belief in Quetzalcoatl's return. Most documents expounding this theory are of entirely Spanish origin, such as Cortés's letters to Charles V of Spain , in which Cortés goes to great pains to present

5110-613: The Cora and Huichol , the Chontales, the Huaves, and the Pipil, Xincan and Lencan peoples of Central America. Central American Area: Los Naranjos By roughly 6000 BCE, hunter-gatherers living in the highlands and lowlands of Mesoamerica began to develop agricultural practices with early cultivation of squash and chili. The earliest example of maize dates to c. 4000 BCE and comes from Guilá Naquitz ,

5256-653: The Itza at Tayasal and the Kowoj at Zacpeten , remained independent until 1697. Some Mesoamerican cultures never achieved dominant status or left impressive archaeological remains but are nevertheless noteworthy. These include the Otomi , Mixe–Zoque groups (which may or may not have been related to the Olmecs), the northern Uto-Aztecan groups, often referred to as the Chichimeca , that include

5402-833: The Kaqchikel at Iximche in the Guatemalan highlands. The Pipil resided in El Salvador , the Nicarao were in western Nicaragua and northwestern Costa Rica , and the Ch'orti' were in eastern Guatemala and northwestern Honduras . In central Mexico, the early portion of the Postclassic correlates with the rise of the Toltec and an empire based at their capital, Tula (also known as Tollan ). Cholula , initially an important Early Classic center contemporaneous with Teotihuacan, maintained its political structure (it did not collapse) and continued to function as

5548-632: The Late Preclassic to Early Classic period (400 BC – 600 AD) of Mesoamerican chronology ; veneration of the figure appears to have spread throughout Mesoamerica by the Late Classic period (600–900 AD). In the Postclassic period (900–1519 AD), the worship of the feathered-serpent deity centered in the primary Mexican religious center of Cholula . In this period the deity is known to have been named Quetzalcōhuātl by his Nahua followers. In

5694-671: The Maya area he was approximately equivalent to Kukulkan and Gukumatz , names that also roughly translate as "feathered serpent" in different Mayan languages . In the era following the 16th-century Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire , a number of records conflated Quetzalcoatl with Ce Acatl Topiltzin , a ruler of the mythico-historic city of Tollan . Historians debate to what degree, or whether at all, these narratives about this legendary Toltec ruler describe historical events. Furthermore, early Spanish sources written by clerics tend to identify

5840-872: The Monte Alto Culture may have preceded the Olmec. Radiocarbon samples associated with various sculptures found at the Late Preclassic site of Izapa suggest a date of between 1800 and 1500 BCE. During the Middle and Late Preclassic period, the Maya civilization developed in the southern Maya highlands and lowlands, and at a few sites in the northern Maya lowlands. The earliest Maya sites coalesced after 1000 BCE, and include Nakbe , El Mirador , and Cerros . Middle to Late Preclassic Maya sites include Kaminaljuyú , Cival , Edzná , Cobá , Lamanai , Komchen , Dzibilchaltun , and San Bartolo , among others. The Preclassic in

5986-424: The Postclassic are differentiated by the cyclical crystallization and fragmentation of the various political entities throughout Mesoamerica. The Mesoamerican Paleo-Indian period precedes the advent of agriculture and is characterized by a nomadic hunting and gathering subsistence strategy. Big-game hunting, similar to that seen in contemporaneous North America, was a large component of the subsistence strategy of

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6132-673: The Purépecha ) were located in Michoacán and Guerrero. With their capital at Tzintzuntzan , the Tarascan state was one of the few to actively and continuously resist Aztec domination during the Late Postclassic. Other important Postclassic cultures in Mesoamerica include the Totonac along the eastern coast (in the modern-day states of Veracruz , Puebla , and Hidalgo ). The Huastec resided north of

6278-513: The Toltec , the name was used as a military title and its representation as an emblem. In the post-classic Nahua civilization of central Mexico (Aztec), the worship of Quetzalcoatl was ubiquitous. Cult worship may have involved the ingestion of hallucinogenic mushrooms (psilocybes), considered sacred. The most important center was Cholula , where the world's largest pyramid was dedicated to Quetzalcoatl-worship. In Aztec culture, depictions of Quetzalcoatl were fully anthropomorphic. Quetzalcoatl

6424-646: The Ulúa River , and the Hondo River . The northern Maya lowlands, especially the northern portion of the Yucatán peninsula, are notable for their nearly complete lack of rivers (largely due to the absolute lack of topographic variation). Additionally, no lakes exist in the northern peninsula. The main source of water in this area is aquifers that are accessed through natural surface openings called cenotes . With an area of 8,264 km (3,191 sq mi), Lake Nicaragua

6570-700: The Yucatán Peninsula . Other areas include Central Mexico, West Mexico, the Gulf Coast Lowlands, Oaxaca , the Southern Pacific Lowlands, and Southeast Mesoamerica (including northern Honduras ). There is extensive topographic variation in Mesoamerica, ranging from the high peaks circumscribing the Valley of Mexico and within the central Sierra Madre mountains to the low flatlands of the northern Yucatán Peninsula. The tallest mountain in Mesoamerica

6716-500: The pre-Columbian era , many indigenous societies flourished in Mesoamerica for more than 3,000 years before the Spanish colonization of the Americas began on Hispaniola in 1493. In world history, Mesoamerica was the site of two historical transformations: (i) primary urban generation, and (ii) the formation of New World cultures from the mixtures of the indigenous Mesoamerican peoples with

6862-559: The wheel and basic metallurgy , neither of these became technologically relevant. Among the earliest complex civilizations was the Olmec culture, which inhabited the Gulf Coast of Mexico and extended inland and southwards across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec . Frequent contact and cultural interchange between the early Olmec and other cultures in Chiapas , Oaxaca , and Guatemala laid the basis for

7008-453: The 1530s Some scholarship maintains the view that the Aztec Empire's fall may be attributed in part to the belief in Cortés as the returning Quetzalcoatl, notably in works by David Carrasco (1982), H. B. Nicholson (2001 (1957)) and John Pohl (2016). Carrasco's work was revised in 2000, and the new edition provides a valuable overview of the controversy about Cortes and Quetzalcoatl. However,

7154-464: The 16 volumes of The Handbook of Middle American Indians . "Mesoamerica" is broadly defined as the area that is home to the Mesoamerican civilization, which comprises a group of peoples with close cultural and historical ties. The exact geographic extent of Mesoamerica has varied through time, as the civilization extended North and South from its heartland in southern Mexico. The term was first used by

7300-432: The 16th century. Eurasian diseases such as smallpox and measles , which were endemic among the colonists but new to North America, caused the deaths of upwards of 90% of the indigenous people, resulting in great losses to their societies and cultures. Over the next centuries, Mesoamerican indigenous cultures were gradually subjected to Spanish colonial rule. Aspects of the Mesoamerican cultural heritage still survive among

7446-405: The Aztec Empire of the Triple Alliance until the arrival of Cortés. Members of this confederacy from Tlaxcala, Puebla, and Oaxaca provided the Spaniards with the army that first reclaimed the city of Cholula from its pro-Aztec ruling faction, and ultimately defeated the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan (Mexico City). The Tlaxcalteca, along with other city-states across the Plain of Puebla, then supplied

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7592-404: The Chiapas highlands, and Kaminaljuyú in the central Guatemala highlands, were important southern highland Maya centers. The latter site, Kaminaljuyú, is one of the longest occupied sites in Mesoamerica and was continuously inhabited from c. 800 BCE to around 1200 CE. Other important highland Maya groups include the Kʼicheʼ of Utatlán , the Mam in Zaculeu , the Poqomam in Mixco Viejo , and

7738-533: The European, African, and Asian peoples who were introduced by the Spanish colonization of the Americas. Mesoamerica is one of the six areas in the world where ancient civilization arose independently (see cradle of civilization ), and the second in the Americas, alongside the Caral–Supe in present-day Peru . Mesoamerica is also one of only five regions of the world where writing is known to have independently developed (the others being ancient Egypt , India , Sumer , and China ). Beginning as early as 7000 BCE,

7884-488: The Feathered Serpent was part of a triad of agricultural deities: The feathered serpent was furthermore connected to the planet Venus because of this planet's importance as a sign of the beginning of the rainy season. To both Teotihuacan and Maya cultures , Venus was in turn also symbolically connected with warfare. Classic Maya serpent iconography seems related to the belief in a sky-, Venus-, creator-, war- and fertility-related serpent deity. In an example from Yaxchilan,

8030-470: The Franciscan missionary Bernardino de Sahagún , the Aztecs had a legend that Quetzalcoatl would one day return, and Emperor Moctezuma II mistook Hernán Cortés for Quetzalcoatl. Other parties have also propagated the idea that the Native Americans believed the conquerors to be gods: most notably the historians of the Franciscan order such as Fray Geronimo Mendieta (Martínez 1980). Some Franciscans at this time held millennarian beliefs (Phelan 1956), and

8176-445: The German ethnologist Paul Kirchhoff , who noted that similarities existed among the various pre-Columbian cultures within the region that included southern Mexico, Guatemala , Belize , El Salvador , western Honduras , and the Pacific lowlands of Nicaragua and northwestern Costa Rica . In the tradition of cultural history , the prevalent archaeological theory of the early to middle 20th century, Kirchhoff defined this zone as

8322-447: The Immortal Nicholas Flamel books. Quetzelcoatl also appeared on (Season 3) of the Animal Planet mockumentary Lost Tapes in an episode entitled "Q the Serpent God". In 1971 Tony Shearer published a book called Lord of the Dawn: Quetzalcoatl and the Tree of Life , inspiring New Age followers to visit Chichen Itza at the summer solstice when dragon-shaped shadows are cast by the Kulkulcan pyramid. The legend of Quetzalcoatl

8468-404: The Isthmus is swampy and covered in dense jungle—but the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, as the lowest and most level point within the Sierra Madre mountain chain, was nonetheless a main transportation, communication, and economic route within Mesoamerica. Outside of the northern Maya lowlands, rivers are common throughout Mesoamerica. Some of the more important ones served as loci of human occupation in

8614-408: The Maya and frequently occurs in relation to Quetzalcoatl in other Mesoamerican cultures. On the basis of the iconography of the feathered-serpent deity at sites such as Teotihuacan, Xochicalco, Chichén Itzá, Tula and Tenochtitlan combined with certain ethnohistorical sources, historian David Carrasco has argued that the preeminent function of the feathered-serpent deity throughout Mesoamerican history

8760-401: The Mesoamerican Paleo-Indian. These sites had obsidian blades and Clovis -style fluted projectile points . The Archaic period (8000–2000 BCE) is characterized by the rise of incipient agriculture in Mesoamerica. The initial phases of the Archaic involved the cultivation of wild plants, transitioning into informal domestication and culminating with sedentism and agricultural production by

8906-429: The Mesoamerican cultural area. All this was facilitated by considerable regional communications in ancient Mesoamerica , especially along the Pacific coast. In the subsequent Preclassic period , complex urban polities began to develop among the Maya , with the rise of centers such as Aguada Fénix and Calakmul in Mexico; El Mirador , and Tikal in Guatemala, and the Zapotec at Monte Albán . During this period,

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9052-449: The Nahua people, wrote, "Quetzalcoatl, in its literal sense, means 'serpent of precious feathers' but in the allegorical sense, 'wisest of men'." In Mesoamerican history, many different ethnopolitical groups worshiped a feathered-serpent deity. Evidence of such worship comes from the iconography of different Mesoamerican cultures, in which serpent motifs occur frequently. On the basis of the different symbolic systems used in portrayals of

9198-404: The New World ushered in the final era of evangelization before the coming of the millennium . Franciscans such as Toribio de Benavente "Motolinia" saw elements of Christianity in the pre-Columbian religions and therefore believed that Mesoamerica had been evangelized before, possibly by Thomas the Apostle , who, according to legend, had "gone to preach beyond the Ganges". Franciscans then equated

9344-405: The Olmec include San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán , La Venta , and Tres Zapotes . Specific dates vary, but these sites were occupied from roughly 1200 to 400 BCE. Remains of other early cultures interacting with the Olmec have been found at Takalik Abaj , Izapa , and Teopantecuanitlan , and as far south as in Honduras . Research in the Pacific Lowlands of Chiapas and Guatemala suggest that Izapa and

9490-450: The Savior; so closely, indeed, that we can come to no other conclusion than that Quetzalcoatl and Christ are the same being. But the history of the former has been handed down to us through an impure Lamanitish source, which has sadly disfigured and perverted the original incidents and teachings of the Savior's life and ministry. Latter-day Saint author Brant Gardner, after investigating the link between Quetzalcoatl and Jesus, concluded that

9636-426: The South presides the Blue Tezcatlipoca, Huitzilopochtli , the god of war. Over the East presides the Red Tezcatlipoca, Xipe Totec , the god of gold, farming and springtime. And over the North presides the Black Tezcatlipoca, known by no other name than Tezcatlipoca , the god of judgment, night, deceit, sorcery and the Earth. Quetzalcoatl was often considered the god of the morning star , and his twin brother Xolotl

9782-483: The Toltecs. His reign is peaceful and productive, lasting 42 years. Within the last four years, the known archenemy of Quetzalcoatl, Tezcatlipoca (although it is not specified in this version), tells him he must leave in four years to Tlapallan to die. Thus, in four years, Quetzacoatl leaves, but takes his adoring Toltecs with him. Stopping at many different villages along the way, he leaves some of his people behind at each one until he arrives at Tlapallan where he dies

9928-421: The Totonac, mainly in the modern-day states of Tamaulipas and northern Veracruz. The Mixtec and Zapotec cultures, centered at Mitla and Zaachila respectively, inhabited Oaxaca. The Postclassic ends with the arrival of the Spanish and their subsequent conquest of the Aztecs between 1519 and 1521. Many other cultural groups did not acquiesce until later. For example, Maya groups in the Petén area, including

10074-427: The Trans-Mexican volcanic belt. There are 83 inactive and active volcanoes within the Sierra Madre range, including 11 in Mexico, 37 in Guatemala, 23 in El Salvador, 25 in Nicaragua, and 3 in northwestern Costa Rica. According to the Michigan Technological University, 16 of these are still active. The tallest active volcano is Popocatépetl at 5,452 m (17,887 ft). This volcano, which retains its Nahuatl name,

10220-408: The Vision Serpent has the human face of the young maize-god, further suggesting a connection to fertility and vegetational renewal; the Maya Young Maize god was also connected to Venus. In Xochicalco, depictions of the feathered serpent accompany the image of a seated, armed ruler and the hieroglyph for the day sign 9 Wind . The date 9 Wind is known to be associated with fertility, Venus and war among

10366-430: The aptly named "Quetzalcoatl temple" in the Ciudadela complex, feathered serpents figure prominently and alternate with a different kind of serpent head. The earliest depictions of the feathered serpent deity were fully zoomorphic, depicting the serpent as an actual snake, but already among the Classic Maya, images of the deity began acquiring human features, such as the beard (see the Borgia codex illustration below) that he

10512-665: The area. The longest river in Mesoamerica is the Usumacinta , which forms in Guatemala at the convergence of the Salinas or Chixoy and La Pasión River and runs north for 970 km (600 mi)—480 km (300 mi) of which are navigable—eventually draining into the Gulf of Mexico . Other rivers of note include the Río Grande de Santiago , the Grijalva River , the Motagua River ,

10658-589: The association amounts to nothing more than folklore. In a 1986 paper for Sunstone , he noted that during the Spanish Conquest , the Native Americans and the Catholic priests who sympathized with them felt pressure to link Native American beliefs with Christianity, thus making the Native Americans seem more human and less savage. Over time, Quetzalcoatl's appearance, clothing, malevolent nature, and status among

10804-514: The auxiliary and logistical support for the conquests of Guatemala and West Mexico while Mixtec and Zapotec caciques (Colonial indigenous rulers) gained monopolies in the overland transport of Manila galleon trade through Mexico, and formed highly lucrative relationships with the Dominican order in the new Spanish imperial world economic system that explains so much of the enduring legacy of indigenous life-ways that characterize southern Mexico and explain

10950-504: The birth of Quetzalcoatl. In a version of the myth, Quetzalcoatl was born by a virgin named Chimalman , to whom the god Ometeotl appeared in a dream. In another story, the virgin Chimalman conceived Quetzalcoatl by swallowing an emerald. A third story narrates that Chimalman was hit in the womb by an arrow shot by Mixcoatl and nine months later she gave birth to a child which was called Quetzalcoatl. A fourth story narrates that Quetzalcoatl

11096-440: The central Mexican highlands is represented by such sites as Tlapacoya , Tlatilco , and Cuicuilco . These sites were eventually superseded by Teotihuacán , an important Classic-era site that eventually dominated economic and interaction spheres throughout Mesoamerica. The settlement of Teotihuacan is dated to the later portion of the Late Preclassic, or roughly 50 CE. In the Valley of Oaxaca , San José Mogote represents one of

11242-528: The close of the period. Transformations of natural environments have been a common feature at least since the mid Holocene. Archaic sites include Sipacate in Escuintla , Guatemala, where maize pollen samples date to c. 3500 BCE. The first complex civilization to develop in Mesoamerica was that of the Olmec , who inhabited the Gulf Coast region of Veracruz throughout the Preclassic period. The main sites of

11388-557: The collapse of Teotihuacán around 600 CE, competition between several important political centers in central Mexico, such as Xochicalco and Cholula , ensued. At this time during the Epi-Classic period, the Nahua peoples began moving south into Mesoamerica from the North, and became politically and culturally dominant in central Mexico, as they displaced speakers of Oto-Manguean languages . During

11534-533: The control of a Toltec empire. Chronological data refutes this early interpretation, and it is now known that Chichén Itzá predated the Toltec; Mexican architectural styles are now used as an indicator of strong economic and ideological ties between the two regions. The Postclassic (beginning 900–1000 CE, depending on area) is, like the Late Classic, characterized by the cyclical crystallization and fragmentation of various polities. The main Maya centers were located in

11680-463: The cult of the feathered serpent spread to new religious and political centers in central Mexico, centers such as Xochicalco , Cacaxtla and Cholula . Feathered-serpent iconography is prominent at all of these sites. Cholula remained the most important center of worship of Quetzalcoatl, the Aztec/Nahua version of the feathered-serpent deity, in the post-classic period. During the epi-classic period,

11826-510: The cult of the serpent. This cult insisted that the practitioners bleed themselves to satiate the needs of the netherworld. It also demanded that all priests remain celibate and did not allow intoxication of any kind (representing the two major sins to which the original 400 Mixcohua succumbed). These edicts and his personal purity of spirit caused Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl to be beloved by his vassals and revered for generations. The representation of

11972-568: The details of the event were gradually lost over time. Quetzalcoatl is not a religious symbol in the Latter-day Saint faith, and is not taught as such, nor is it in their doctrine that Quetzalcoatl is Jesus. However, in 1892 one president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , John Taylor , wrote: The story of the life of the Mexican divinity, Quetzalcoatl, closely resembles that of

12118-426: The domestication of cacao , maize , beans , tomato , avocado , vanilla , squash and chili , as well as the turkey and dog , resulted in a transition from paleo-Indian hunter-gatherer tribal groupings to the organization of sedentary agricultural villages. In the subsequent Formative period, agriculture and cultural traits such as a complex mythological and religious tradition , a vigesimal numeric system,

12264-417: The dominant climate is temperate with warm temperatures and moderate rainfall. The rainfall varies from the dry Oaxaca and north Yucatán to the humid southern Pacific and Caribbean lowlands. Several distinct sub-regions within Mesoamerica are defined by a convergence of geographic and cultural attributes. These sub-regions are more conceptual than culturally meaningful, and the demarcation of their limits

12410-462: The early post-Classic period, Central Mexico was dominated by the Toltec culture, and Oaxaca by the Mixtec . The lowland Maya area had important centers at Chichén Itzá and Mayapán . Towards the end of the post-Classic period, the Aztecs of Central Mexico built a tributary empire covering most of central Mesoamerica. The distinct Mesoamerican cultural tradition ended with the Spanish conquest in

12556-505: The east, wearing brilliant armor (like that which the deity Quetzalcoatl is often shown wearing), accompanied by four men (possibly believed to be the other four progenitors of the Mesoamerican people that survived the massacre before coming to earth as Topiltzin’s messengers). The Spanish arrival terrified the ruling class. They feared they would be exposed as frauds and, at the very least, lose their ruling status to Topiltzin. Conversely

12702-402: The empire when the first Spaniards arrived. The stories of Topiltzin further expedited the collapse of the Aztec nation by sheer coincidence; they described him as having an incredible likeness to the Spaniards. The Aztec may have truly believed that they were seeing the return of the famous priest when the white-skinned Hernán Cortés landed on their shores in 1519. He came from across the sea to

12848-436: The feathered-serpent deity in different cultures and periods, scholars have interpreted the religious and symbolic meaning of the feathered-serpent deity in Mesoamerican cultures. The earliest known iconographic depiction of the deity appears on Stela 19 at the Olmec site of La Venta . Dated to around 900 BC, it depicts a serpent rising up behind a person probably engaged in a shamanic ritual. Although probably not exactly

12994-433: The features their respective names. The Aztecs believed that Topiltzin's search for his holy resting place eventually led him across the sea to the east, from whence he vowed to return one day and reclaim Cholula (Chimalpahin, Motolinia, Ixtlilxochitl, Codice Rios). Other sources insist that Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl would not return but that he would send representatives to warn or possibly pass judgment on those inhabiting

13140-575: The first true Mesoamerican writing systems were developed in the Epi-Olmec and the Zapotec cultures. The Mesoamerican writing tradition reached its height in the Classic Maya logosyllabic script . In Central Mexico, the city of Teotihuacan ascended at the height of the Classic period; it formed a military and commercial empire whose political influence stretched south into the Maya area and northward. Upon

13286-451: The god-ruler Quetzalcoatl of these narratives with either Hernán Cortés or Thomas the Apostle —identifications which have also become sources of a diversity of opinions about the nature of Quetzalcoatl. The name Quetzalcoatl comes from Nahuatl and means "Precious serpent" or " Quetzal -feathered Serpent". In the 17th century, Ixtlilxóchitl , a descendant of Aztec royalty and historian of

13432-417: The gods were reshaped to fit a more Christian framework. Quetzalcoatl was fictionalized in the 1982 film Q as a monster that terrorizes New York City. The deity has been featured as a character in the manga and anime series Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's , Beyblade: Metal Fusion , Fate/Grand Order - Absolute Demonic Front: Babylonia and Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid (the latter two depicting Quetzalcoatl as

13578-453: The indigenous peoples who inhabit Mesoamerica. Many continue to speak their ancestral languages and maintain many practices hearkening back to their Mesoamerican roots. The term Mesoamerica literally means "middle America" in Greek. Middle America often refers to a larger area in the Americas, but it has also previously been used more narrowly to refer to Mesoamerica. An example is the title of

13724-489: The land (Las Casas, Mendieta, Veytia). Aztec rulers used the myth of the great founder of Tollan to help legitimize their claims to seats of power. They claimed that, as the direct descendants of the Priest-King, they had the right and duty to hold his place until the day Topiltzin would return. The myths would prove to have a lasting effect on the Aztec empire. They rationalized the mass sacrifices that were already destabilizing

13870-687: The legend of Quetzalcoatl played a significant role in the colonial period. However, this legend likely has a foundation in events that took place immediately prior to the arrival of the Spaniards. A 2012 exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Dallas Museum of Art, "The Children of the Plumed Serpent: the Legacy of Quetzalcoatl in Ancient Mexico", demonstrated the existence of

14016-406: The lesser god from Tollan. During this time Quetzalcoatl and a few of his people visit many of the villages mentioned as well as others. In many of these villages he remained the chief god for centuries. Two endings exist: in one, Tezcatlipoca follows him into the desert and the smoke that rises from his dead body creates Venus. In the other, he simply flees to Tlapallan once again. This translation

14162-462: The lifestyle of the Toltecs with basic ideas such as civilization. He was generally considered a god upon earth by his followers with similar powers to those of his namesake. According to legend, the most accepted fate of the man-god was that during the year "1 Acatl" or 947, and at the age of 53 he migrated to the Gulf coast Tlapallan where he took a canoe and burned himself. He dispelled the traditions of

14308-503: The lowlands (those areas between sea level and 1000 meters) and the altiplanos , or highlands (situated between 1,000 and 2,000 meters above sea level). In the low-lying regions, sub-tropical and tropical climates are most common, as is true for most of the coastline along the Pacific and Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea . The highlands show much more climatic diversity, ranging from dry tropical to cold mountainous climates ;

14454-421: The lowlands and coastal plains settled down in agrarian communities somewhat later than did highland cultures because there was a greater abundance of fruits and animals in these areas, which made a hunter-gatherer lifestyle more attractive. Fishing also was a major provider of food to lowland and coastal Mesoamericans creating a further disincentive to settle down in permanent communities. Ceremonial centers were

14600-603: The more well known are the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System , the second largest in the world, and La Mosquitia (consisting of the Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve , Tawahka Asangni, Patuca National Park , and Bosawás Biosphere Reserve ) a rainforest second in size in the Americas only to the Amazonas . The highlands present mixed and coniferous forest. The biodiversity is among the richest in

14746-465: The most well-known structures in Mesoamerica, the flat-top pyramids are a landmark feature of the most developed urban centers. Quetzalcoatl Quetzalcoatl ( / ˌ k ɛ t s əl k oʊ ˈ æ t əl / ) (Nahuatl: " Feathered Serpent ") is a deity in Aztec culture and literature . Among the Aztecs, he was related to wind, Venus, Sun, merchants, arts, crafts, knowledge, and learning. He

14892-516: The naive gullibility of the Aztecs in general as a great aid in the conquest of the Aztec Empire . Much of the idea of Cortés being seen as a deity can be traced back to the Florentine Codex written down some 50 years after the conquest. In the Codex's description of the first meeting between Moctezuma and Cortés, the Aztec ruler is described as giving a prepared speech in classical oratorial Nahuatl,

15038-426: The names of the deity who was their patron. His mother is at times unnamed, but Chimalman is the most accepted. There exist few accounts of Ce Acatl's early childhood. However, all information agrees that he proved his worth first as a warrior and then as a priest to the people of Tollan . He assumed lordship over the Toltecs and migrated his people to Tollan. Reigning in peace and prosperity he contributed much to

15184-520: The natives taking the Spanish conquerors for gods was an idea that went well with this theology. Some scholars still hold the view that the fall of the Aztec empire can in part be attributed to Moctezuma's belief in Cortés as the returning Quetzalcoatl, but most modern scholars see the "Quetzalcoatl/Cortés myth" as one of many myths about the Spanish conquest which originated in the early post-conquest period. The tales end with Topiltzin traveling across Mesoamerica founding small communities and giving all

15330-473: The neck. Additionally, at least one major cache of offerings includes knives and idols adorned with the symbols of more than one god, some of which were adorned with wind jewels. Animals thought to represent Quetzalcoatl include resplendent quetzals , rattlesnakes ( coatl meaning "serpent" in Nahuatl), crows, and macaws . In his form as Ehecatl he is the wind, and is represented by spider monkeys , ducks, and

15476-421: The next day. Somewhat unusual to this version is the epilogue of how Tollan does not find a leader for some years after. Tollan is later conquered and all the Toltecs are sacrificed. As mentioned before, this version is brief, most probably due to the Spaniards' inability to fully translate the text, or alternatively the lack of interest in relaying the story in its entirety. The second translations were written by

15622-496: The northern lowlands. Generally applied to the Maya area, the Terminal Classic roughly spans the time between c. 800/850 and c. 1000 CE. Overall, it generally correlates with the rise to prominence of Puuc settlements in the northern Maya lowlands , so named after the hills where they are mainly found. Puuc settlements are specifically associated with a unique architectural style (the "Puuc architectural style") that represents

15768-558: The northern lowlands. Following Chichén Itzá, whose political structure collapsed during the Early Postclassic, Mayapán rose to prominence during the Middle Postclassic and dominated the north for c. 200 years. After Mayapán's fragmentation, the political structure in the northern lowlands revolved around large towns or city-states, such as Oxkutzcab and Ti’ho ( Mérida, Yucatán ), that competed with one another. Toniná , in

15914-466: The nuclei of Mesoamerican settlements. The temples provided spatial orientation, which was imparted to the surrounding town. The cities with their commercial and religious centers were always political entities, somewhat similar to the European city-state , and each person could identify with the city where they lived. Ceremonial centers were always built to be visible. Pyramids were meant to stand out from

16060-449: The oldest permanent agricultural villages in the area, and one of the first to use pottery. During the Early and Middle Preclassic, the site developed some of the earliest examples of defensive palisades , ceremonial structures, the use of adobe , and hieroglyphic writing . Also of importance, the site was one of the first to demonstrate inherited status , signifying a radical shift in socio-cultural and political structure. San José Mogote

16206-430: The oppressed Aztec people, taxed and forced to wage war for sacrifices, hoped that these arrivals would bring a new era of peace and enlightenment (Carrasco 2000:145-152). Ultimately the Aztecs' rulers still lost their status and the Aztec people were not freed from oppression. As the Spanish conquered Mesoamerica they destroyed countless works concerning and pre-dating the Aztecs, and the story of Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl

16352-691: The original Quetzalcoatl with Thomas and imagined that the Indians had long-awaited his return to take part once again in God's kingdom. Historian Matthew Restall concludes that: The legend of the returning lords, originated during the Spanish-Mexica war in Cortés' reworking of Moctezuma's welcome speech, had by the 1550s merged with the Cortés-as-Quetzalcoatl legend that the Franciscans had started spreading in

16498-440: The past and ended all human sacrifice during his reign. The translations claim that he loved his people so much he insisted that they only meet the ancient standards of the gods; he had the Toltec offer them snakes, birds and other animals, but not humans, as sacrifices. To prove his penance, to atone for the earlier sins of his people, and to appease the debt owed to the gods (created by lack of tribute of human blood) he also created

16644-679: The past few decades has established that it was first settled during the Early/Late Classic transition but rose to prominence during the Terminal Classic and Early Postclassic. During its apogee, this widely known site economically and politically dominated the northern lowlands. Its participation in the circum-peninsular exchange route, possible through its port site of Isla Cerritos , allowed Chichén Itzá to remain highly connected to areas such as central Mexico and Central America. The apparent "Mexicanization" of architecture at Chichén Itzá led past researchers to believe that Chichén Itzá existed under

16790-635: The popularity of the Quetzalcoatl legends that continued through the colonial period to the present day. According to the Book of Mormon , the resurrected Jesus Christ descended from heaven and visited the people of the American continent, shortly after his resurrection. Based on the Book of Mormon account, some followers of the Latter Day Saints movement believe that Quetzalcoatl was Jesus Christ, but that his name and

16936-461: The priestly ruler became so important that subsequent rulers would claim direct descent from Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl in order to legitimize their monarchies. Once he left Tollan, the name was used by other elite figures to keep a line of succession and was also used by the Mexica to more easily rule over the Toltecs. According to the Florentine Codex , which was written under the direction of

17082-416: The rest of the city, to represent the gods and their powers. Another characteristic feature of the ceremonial centers is historic layers. All the ceremonial edifices were built in various phases, one on top of the other, to the point that what we now see is usually the last stage of construction. Ultimately, the ceremonial centers were the architectural translation of the identity of each city, as represented by

17228-585: The spread of the feathered-serpent cult in the epi-classic and early post-classic periods. Represented as the plumed serpent, Quetzalcoatl was also seen as a manifestation of the wind, one of the most powerful forces of nature; a text in the Nahuatl language captures this relationship: Quetzalcoatl; yn ehecatl ynteiacancauh yntlachpancauh in tlaloque, yn aoaque, yn qujqujiauhti. Auh yn jquac molhuja eheca, mjtoa: teuhtli quaqualaca, ycoioca, tetecujca, tlatlaiooa, tlatlapitza, tlatlatzinj, motlatlaueltia. Quetzalcoatl—he

17374-445: The story is that he was born in the 10th century, during the year and day-sign "1 Acatl," correlated to date May 13 of the year 895, allegedly in what is now the town of Tepoztlán . According to various sources, he had four different possible fathers, the most popular of which is Mixcōatl ("Cloud Serpent"), the god of war, fire, and the hunt, and presumably also an earlier Toltec king—Mesoamerican leaders and high-priests sometimes took

17520-520: The tale is the same - Quetzalcoatl is a mage-god ruling Tollan with his knowledge and wisdom passed onto the Toltecs. In this version, Tollan resembles a utopia with beautiful buildings and flora where the people were content with every aspect of life. Tezcatlipoca come along and forces Quetzalcoatl out. Quetzalcoatl then transforms Tollan into a normal city. Along his travels, Quetzalcoatl and some of his followers are involved in many stories before they reach Tlapallan. Mesoamerica Mesoamerica

17666-564: The time following the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century is classified as the Colonial period. The differentiation of early periods (i.e., up through the end of the Late Preclassic ) generally reflects different configurations of socio-cultural organization that are characterized by increasing socio-political complexity , the adoption of new and different subsistence strategies , and changes in economic organization (including increased interregional interaction). The Classic period through

17812-491: The two most important priests of the Aztec Templo Mayor were called "Quetzalcoatl Tlamacazqui". In the Aztec ritual calendar, different deities were associated with the cycle-of-year names: Quetzalcoatl was tied to the year Ce Acatl (One Reed), which correlates to the year 1519. The exact significance and attributes of Quetzalcoatl varied somewhat between civilizations and through history. There are several stories about

17958-417: The unknown mother, who dies after giving birth to Ce Acatl. Once Ce Acatl emerges from manhood, he spends seven years upon the mountains offering penance (for his sins) to the gods and performs ritual bloodletting asking the gods to make him a great warrior—ritual bloodletting by rulers was long a feature of Mesoamerican religions. Once this time passes, he begins to wage war and becomes the leader of Tollan and

18104-411: The veneration of their gods and masters. Stelae were common public monuments throughout Mesoamerica and served to commemorate notable successes, events, and dates associated with the rulers and nobility of the various sites. Given that Mesoamerica was broken into numerous and diverse ecological niches, none of the societies that inhabited the area were self-sufficient, although very long-distance trade

18250-535: The western United States, respectively, have not entered into widespread usage. Some of the significant cultural traits defining the Mesoamerican cultural tradition are: Located on the Middle American isthmus joining North and South America between ca. 10° and 22° northern latitude , Mesoamerica possesses a complex combination of ecological systems, topographic zones, and environmental contexts. These different niches are classified into two broad categories:

18396-545: The widespread belief that Moctezuma was addressing Cortés as the returning god Quetzalcoatl. Other parties have also promulgated the idea that the Mesoamericans believed the conquistadors, and in particular Cortés, to be awaited gods: most notably the historians of the Franciscan order such as Fray Gerónimo de Mendieta . Some Franciscans at this time held millennarian beliefs and some of them believed that Cortés' coming to

18542-470: The wind itself. In his form as the morning star, Venus, he is also depicted as a harpy eagle . In Mazatec legends, the astrologer deity Tlahuizcalpanteuctli , who is also represented by Venus, bears a close relationship with Quetzalcoatl. The earliest known documentation of the worship of a Feathered Serpent occurs in Teotihuacan in the first century BC or first century AD. That period lies within

18688-733: The world, though the number of species in the red list of the IUCN grows every year. The history of human occupation in Mesoamerica is divided into stages or periods. These are known, with slight variation depending on region, as the Paleo-Indian , the Archaic , the Preclassic (or Formative), the Classic , and the Postclassic . The last three periods, representing the core of Mesoamerican cultural fluorescence, are further divided into two or three sub-phases. Most of

18834-456: Was a conch shell cut at the cross-section and was likely worn as a necklace by religious rulers, as such objects have been discovered in burials in archaeological sites throughout Mesoamerica, and potentially symbolized patterns witnessed in hurricanes, dust devils, seashells, and whirlpools, which were elemental forces that had significance in Aztec mythology . Codex drawings pictured both Quetzalcoatl and Xolotl wearing an ehēcacōzcatl around

18980-472: Was a son of Xochiquetzal and Mixcoatl . In the Codex Chimalpopoca , it is said Quetzalcoatl was coerced by Tezcatlipoca into becoming drunk on pulque , cavorting with his older sister, Quetzalpetlatl, a celibate priestess, and neglecting their religious duties. (Many academics conclude this passage implies incest.) The next morning, Quetzalcoatl, feeling shame and regret, had his servants build him

19126-508: Was allied with Caracol and may have assisted in the defeat of Tikal), and Dos Pilas Aguateca and Cancuén in the Petexbatún region of Guatemala. Around 710, Tikal arose again and started to build strong alliances and defeat its worst enemies. In the Maya area, the Late Classic ended with the so-called " Maya collapse ", a transitional period coupling the general depopulation of the southern lowlands and development and florescence of centers in

19272-408: Was almost lost. Only relatively recently have accurate translations of much of the information about Topiltzin been made available. Unfortunately, even the comparatively complete accounts are but a portion of the story. Much of the information varies from region to region and has changed through the course of time (as myths are apt to do). Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl is usually seen with a plumed headpiece,

19418-430: Was also the patron god of the Aztec priesthood. He was one of several important gods in the Aztec pantheon , along with the gods Tlaloc , Tezcatlipoca and Huitzilopochtli . The two other gods represented by the planet Venus are Tlaloc (ally and the god of rain) and Xolotl ( psychopomp and its twin). Quetzalcoatl wears around his neck the breastplate ehēcacōzcatl , "the spirally voluted wind jewel". This talisman

19564-401: Was as the patron deity of the urban center - a god of culture and civilization. To the Aztecs, Quetzalcoatl was, as his name indicates, a feathered serpent. He was a creator deity having contributed essentially to the creation of mankind. He also had anthropomorphic forms, for example in his aspects as Ehecatl the wind god. Among the Aztecs, the name Quetzalcoatl was also a priestly title, as

19710-614: Was associated with the wind-god Ehecatl and is often depicted with his insignia: a beak-like mask. On the basis of the Teotihuacan iconographical depictions of the feathered serpent, archaeologist Karl Taube has argued that the feathered serpent was a symbol of fertility and of internal political structures - contrasting with the War Serpent symbolizing the outwards military expansion of the Teotihuacan empire. Historian Enrique Florescano - also analyzing Teotihuacan iconography - argues that

19856-579: Was born from Coatlicue , who already had four hundred children who formed the stars of the Milky Way . According to another version of the myth, Quetzalcoatl is one of the four sons of Ometecuhtli and Omecihuatl , the four Tezcatlipocas, each of whom presided over one of the four cardinal directions. Over the West presides the White Tezcatlipoca, Quetzalcoatl, the god of light, justice, mercy and wind. Over

20002-400: Was common only for very rare goods, or luxury materials. For this reason, from the last centuries of the Archaic period (8000 BCE– 1000 BCE) onward, regions compensated for the environmental inadequacies by specializing in the extraction of certain abundant natural resources and then trading them for necessary unavailable resources through established commercial trade networks. The following

20148-406: Was considered the fifth sun, the previous four having been destroyed by flood, fire and the like. Quetzalcoatl went to Mictlan , the underworld, and created fifth-world mankind from the bones of the previous races (with the help of Cihuacoatl ), using his own blood, from a wound he inflicted on his earlobes, calves, tongue, and penis, to imbue the bones with new life. It is also suggested that he

20294-402: Was done by a Franciscan friar who compiled from native informants an extensive set of texts—collectively known as the Florentine Codex —involving the Mesoamerican pantheon. The lengthy Spanish-language version, Historia general de las cosas de Nueva España by Fray Bernardino de Sahagún , gives a unique look at Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl and his subjects' lifestyle. The core structure of

20440-521: Was eventually overtaken by Monte Albán , the subsequent capital of the Zapotec empire , during the Late Preclassic. The Preclassic in western Mexico, in the states of Nayarit , Jalisco , Colima , and Michoacán also known as the Occidente, is poorly understood. This period is best represented by the thousands of figurines recovered by looters and ascribed to the " shaft tomb tradition ". The Classic period

20586-468: Was later named the Historia de los Mexicanos por sus pinturas . This version was copied from a pre-Hispanic text around 1531 and could possibly be the oldest recreation of the codices . It is also considered to be the briefest translation. In this version, the deeds of Quetzalcoatl's (here named Ce Acatl) father, the war god Mixcoatl (here named Camaxtli ), are highlighted. It explains how Mixcoatl meets

20732-571: Was predominantly used by the Maya during the Early Classic), and jade from the Motagua valley in Guatemala. Tikal was often in conflict with other polities in the Petén Basin , as well as with others outside of it, including Uaxactun , Caracol , Dos Pilas , Naranjo , and Calakmul . Towards the end of the Early Classic, this conflict lead to Tikal's military defeat at the hands of Caracol in 562, and

20878-434: Was sometimes depicted with. In the iconography of the classic period, Maya serpent imagery is also prevalent: a snake often appears as the embodiment of the sky itself, and a vision serpent is a shamanic helper presenting Maya kings with visions of the underworld . The archaeological record shows that after the fall of Teotihuacan that marked the beginning of the epi-classic period in Mesoamerican chronology around 600 AD,

21024-568: Was the evening star ( Venus ). As the morning star, he was known by the title Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli , meaning "lord of the star of the dawn". He was known as the inventor of books and the calendar , the giver of maize (corn) to mankind, and sometimes as a symbol of death and resurrection . Quetzalcoatl was also the patron of the priests and the title of the twin Aztec high priests. Some legends describe him as opposed to human sacrifice while others describe him practicing it. Most Mesoamerican beliefs included cycles of suns. Often our current time

21170-506: Was the staple crop in the region, and remained so through modern times. The Ramón or Breadnut tree ( Brosimum alicastrum ) was an occasional substitute for maize in producing flour. Fruit was also important in the daily diet of Mesoamerican cultures. Some of the main ones consumed include avocado , papaya , guava , mamey , zapote , and annona . Mesoamerica lacked animals suitable for domestication, most notably domesticated large ungulates . The lack of draft animals for transportation

21316-417: Was the wind, the guide and road sweeper of the rain gods, of the masters of the water, of those who brought rain. And when the wind rose, when the dust rumbled, and it crack and there was a great din, became it became dark and the wind blew in many directions, and it thundered; then it was said: "[Quetzalcoatl] is wrathful." Quetzalcoatl also became linked with rulership and priestly office; additionally, among

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