
Cacaxtla - Xochitécatl
Cacaxtla was a powerful political, military and commercial center that developed in the present-day states of Puebla and Tlaxcala. This site contains some of Mesoamerica’s most extraordinary and well-preserved murals. Xochitecatl's legacy is the unique Pyramid of the Flowers and a remarkable set of terracotta female figurines.
CACAXTLA
This city was founded in the distant past by the Olmeca-Xicalanca people, but only rose to dominance after the collapse of Teotihuacan and Cholula. Following the decline of the latter, Cacaxtla assumed political control over what is now the Puebla-Tlaxcala region. Cacaxtla flourished between 650-900 AD, during the Late Classic, a period when it established trade links with the Gulf coast and the Valley of Mexico. It acquired great wealth by taking advantage of its strategic location along routes leading to the territories of the modern-day states of Tabasco and Campeche. The site was abandoned in around the year 1000, for reasons that remain uncertain.
Research by the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) began at the site after it was discovered in the 1970s. The Gran Basamento ("Great Plinth"), measuring 656 feet long and 82 feet high, is one of the most outstanding archeological remains. This large complex of superimposed and interconnected structures (shrines, platforms and pyramids) boasts remarkable mural paintings—made using red, blue, yellow, black and white pigments obtained from kaolin, obsidian, lime and other local minerals—which are truly one-of-a-kind. These murals reveal influences from both the Mayan and Teotihuacan regions and depict motifs related to mythology, religion, war, defeat and peace; there are also highly realistic drawings of nature with symbolic features that have yet to be completely deciphered. The ancient inhabitants’ system of building structures on top of each other has preserved not only the ritual offerings but also these valuable paintings. In the 1980s, an enormous roof, spanning more than 100,000 square feet, was erected over the most important section of the Great Plinth in order to provide protection from the elements.
XOCHITECATL
Just over three miles from Cacaxtla and developed mainly between 600 and 100 BC, Xochitecatl was a short-lived ceremonial center for the Olmeca and Xicalanca people. Built on top of the Xochitecatl hill, the architecture was adapted to the hilly terrain with terraces created for houses and land for growing crops. The most important monuments are located on top of the hill: the Pirámide de las Flores ("Pyramid of the Flowers"), the Pirámide de la Serpiente ("Pyramid of the Serpent"), the Pirámide de la Espiral ("Pyramid of the Spiral") and the Basamento de los Volcanes ("Plinth of the Volcanoes").
Xochitecatl is distinguished by the numerous figurines of women depicted as pregnant, giving birth, carrying a child, or with a cavity in their stomach into which a baby could be inserted or taken out. Scholars agree that the ritual setting, the offerings of figurines, human burial sites, and archeo-astronomical features all suggest that the site was a ceremonial center based on a fertility and rainmaking cult, the symbols of which seem to have been conveyed through the female image.
- Dirección del Centro INAHJosé Vicente De La Rosa Herrerajose_delarosa@inah.gob.mx+52 (246) 416 0000Administración del Centro INAHOmar González Ramírezomar_ramirez@inah.gob.mx+52 (246) 462 9375, ext. 37802
Cacaxtla: Gran Basamento
It is a natural elevation adapted as a platform of staggered bodies with sloping walls.
It is a natural elevation adapted as a platform of staggered bodies with sloping walls. It is characterized by holding living areas and open spaces, some in the form of sunken courtyards delimited by walls superimposed on slope, and built with materials such as tepetate and adobe covered with stucco, which were richly decorated with impressive mural paintings.
Temple of Venus: It is called this way by the repeated appearance of the snail cut transversely, representation of the stellar eye related to Venus. On the east side of the pillars of this building there are two characters, both with their bodies painted in blue and wearing similar attire, although one of them has a scorpion tail as an additional adornment.
Red Temple: It contains two murals. Unlike the other paintings in Cacaxtla, the human figure is secondary, since those of vegetables and animals predominate. It also represents an old man with jaguar attire and attributes of the rain god, accompanied by his calendrical name (Four Dog).
Lattice: It is a unique architectural element of its kind in Mesoamerica. It was built with a structure of branches covered with mud to give it shape, to which a lime and sand coating was applied.
The Palace, Patio of the Rhombuses and Patio of the Altars: It corresponds to the last stage of occupation of the place, it is conformed of a complex of enclosures that were continuously modified and adapted for diverse uses, mainly that of privileged rooms.
On the floors of this complex and in other areas, the remains of 200 children sacrificed at the time of initiating a new constructive stage were located.
Among the outstanding elements of this structure are the Patio de los Rombos, so called because of the elements in relief that adorn its walls, and the Patio de los Altares, so called because of the existence of two altars in its center.
Mural of the Battle: This element was made between the year 650 and 700, because of its pictorial theme it has been related to Mayan painting of the same period. It represents the confrontation between two morphologically distinctive groups; a group of “defeated” who wear bird headdresses, rich plumage and jade jewelry, they are evidently wounded and mutilated. And another group of “victors” who have mostly attires with jaguar skins and are represented in full action against the first group with spears, obsidian knives and spear throwers.
South Jamba: It shows a character framed by a band with representations of aquatic animals, covered with the skin of a jaguar, holding between his arms a bundle of spears from which water drops flow. He is standing on a reptile with feline attributes. In the lower left corner there is the numeral “nine eye of reptile” in flames, related to Quetzalcóatl in his invocation to Ehécatl, god of the wind. Superimposed to this mural is a clay relief that represents a seated personage, who has been related to Cocijo, Zapotec god of corn, for his elaborated headdress with remains of the image of a bat.
Building E: This one shows a personage framed by a band of aquatic animals, dressed with bird-like elements in his headdress, shoulders and arms, as well as claws on his feet. He holds a serpent bar between his arms, characteristic for the same period in the central Maya area. The personage is standing on a feathered serpent, bearded, carrying two elongated nostrils and next to them a scroll. To the left is a macaw. Below is a numeral: a bar and dots with a feather.
Portico. Building A: It shows a richly attired personage, whose hair, knotted and stopped with a bun and a diadem on the top of the head, falls down the back. It has locks strung with tubular beads and yellow flowers at the ends. The figure holds a sea shell from which a small human figure emerges. Two numerals are observed: in the upper part the “Three deer”, and in the lower part the “Seven reptile eye”.
Zona Arqueológica de Xochitécatl
The monumental zone of Xochitécatl is located around a central plaza surrounded by buildings with ceremonial functions; linked to nature and fertility.
The monumental zone of Xochitécatl is located around a central plaza surrounded by buildings with ceremonial functions; linked to nature and fertility.
Pyramid of the Flowers: It is the largest and is located to the east of the settlement; in front you can see the central staircase with the Monolithic Piles 1 and 2, columns, lintels, stone ashlars and 30 burials almost all children accompanied by offerings of shell, jade and obsidian.
La Espiral: This building is located at the eastern end of the plaza; among the ceramic objects recovered in this place, a complete female clay figurine was found, with remains of red paint and the offering of a pot with animal bones. A child burial was found associated with this offering.
Basamento de los Volcanes: It is located in the central part of the plaza; the building is rectangular and was built with facing stones on its four sides, joined with mud and covered with stucco.
Monolithic Piles: Four sculptures were found inside 1 and 2: one zoomorphic, two anthropomorphic and one mythological.
Building of the Serpent: Located to the south, its rectangular plan presents three constructive stages, made of boulders of different dimensions agglutinated mainly with mud. In the superior part of the structure the Monolithic Pile 3 was located, which contained in its interior a zoomorphic sculpture.
Rituals for fertility, maternity and rainmaking were traditions that lay at the heart of indigenous life.







