Chicomoztoc () is the name for the mythical origin place of the Aztec Mexicas, Tepanecs, Acolhuas, and other

Nahuatl Nahuatl (; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahua peoples, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have small ...

-speaking peoples (or Nahuas) of the central Mexico region of

Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica. W ...

, in the Postclassic period. The term Chicomoztoc derives from

''chicome'' (“seven”), ''oztotl'' (“cave”), and -''c'' (“place”). In symbolic terms these caves within a hill have been compared to the wombs from which the various peoples were born; another possible association is with the seven orifices of the human body. In either case, this term is associated with the origin, birth, or beginning of a group of people, both mythic and historical. There is an association of Chicomoztoc with certain legendary traditions concerning Culhuacan (''Colhuacan''), an actual pre-Columbian settlement in the

Valley of Mexico The Valley of Mexico ( es, Valle de México) is a highlands plateau in central Mexico roughly coterminous with present-day Mexico City and the eastern half of the State of Mexico. Surrounded by mountains and volcanoes, the Valley of Mexico wa ...

which was considered to have been one of the earliest and most pre-eminent settlements in the valley. Culhuacan (''"place of those with ancestors"'' is its literal meaning in Classical Nahuatl) was viewed as a prestigious and revered place by the Aztec/Mexica (who also styled themselves 'Culhua-Mexica'). In Aztec codical writing, the symbol or glyph representing the toponym of Culhuacan took the form of a 'bent' or 'curved' hill (a play on the homonym ''col-'' in Nahuatl, meaning "bent, twisted", e.g. as if by old age). Some researchers have attempted to identify Chicomoztoc with a specific geographic location, likely between 60 and 180 miles northeast of the

including perhaps a height near the present-day town of San Isidro Culhuacan. The purported existence of actual caves plays a role in New Age

Mayanism Mayanism is a non-codified eclectic collection of New Age beliefs, influenced in part by Pre-Columbian Maya mythology and some folk beliefs of the modern Maya peoples. Contemporary Mayanism places less emphasis on contacts between the ancie ...

Cerro Culiacán

In the State of Guanajuato the highest mountain is "El Cerro de Culiacán" and is surrounded by all the signs that correspond to the measure and chronicles of the legendary Chicomoztoc.

In fiction

In Clive Cussler's novel ''

Lost Empire ''Lost Empire'' is a 4X turn-based strategy video game developed by Pollux Gamelabs and released in June 2007. Synopsis The game is set in the year 4620. There are seven major civilizations in space, humankind being one of them. The story is ...

'', Chicomoztoc is discovered to be an island in

South Sulawesi South Sulawesi ( id, Sulawesi Selatan) is a province in the southern peninsula of Sulawesi. The Selayar Islands archipelago to the south of Sulawesi is also part of the province. The capital is Makassar. The province is bordered by Central Sul ...

, Indonesia, from where the ancestors of the Aztec were exiled sometime in the 6th century.Lost Empire, pp. 312-3, 318

References

External links

* Locations in Aztec mythology Locations in Mesoamerican mythology {{mesoamerica-stub

Cerro Culiacán

In fiction

See also

References

External links