Tecoaque is a

Mesoamerica Mesoamerica 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 S ...

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or recorded history, historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline ...

, located in western

Tlaxcala Tlaxcala, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tlaxcala, is one of the 32 federal entities that comprise the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Tlaxcala, 60 municipalities and t ...

state, central

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, close to

Calpulalpan Calpulalpan officially as Heroic City of Calpulalpan, is a Mexican city, head and main urban center of the homonymous municipality, located to the west of the Mexican state of Tlaxcala Tlaxcala, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tla ...

. The site was inhabited by the

Acolhua The Acolhua are a Mesoamerican people who arrived in the Valley of Mexico in or around the year 1200 CE. The Acolhua were a sister culture of the Aztecs (or Mexica) as well as the Tepanec, Chalca, Xochimilca and others. The most important p ...

, one of the three ethnic groups making up the

Aztec Empire The Aztec Empire, also known as the Triple Alliance (, Help:IPA/Nahuatl, �jéːʃkaːn̥ t͡ɬaʔtoːˈlóːjaːn̥ or the Tenochca Empire, was an alliance of three Nahuas, Nahua altepetl, city-states: , , and . These three city-states rul ...

(their capital being Tetzcohco, one of the three seats of Aztec power). Tecoaque had many white-stucco temples and was the home to approximately 5,000 people, mostly priests and farmers.

Etymology

The name is a colonial transcription of the

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 Nahuas, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller popul ...

''Tēcuahqueh'', meaning both "they ate people" and " people eaters". It consists of ''tē-'', the indefinite object prefix for people; ''cuah'', the past / participle form of the verb ''cua'' (to eat), meaning "ate" / "eating"; and the plural suffix ''-queh''. Tecoaque replaced the earlier name of Zōltepēc, meaning "at quail mountain" (from ''zōlin'', quail, and ''tepētl'', mountain).

Site description

Tecoaque includes a prominent circular structure dedicated to

Ehecatl Ehecatl ( , ) is a pre-Columbian deity associated with the wind, who features in Aztec mythology and the mythologies of other cultures from the central Mexico region of Mesoamerica. He is most usually interpreted as the aspect of the Feathered Se ...

. Parts of this primary three-tiered structure, which has an eastern facing stairway, were restored in 1992. Nearby archaeological features include residential structures and an important rectangular

plaza A town square (or public square, urban square, city square or simply square), also called a plaza or piazza, is an open public space commonly found in the heart of a traditional town or city, and which is used for community gatherings. Rela ...

World Heritage status

This site was added to the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

Tentative List on 6 December 2004 in the Cultural category.

1520 capture of Spanish civilians

Initially, the Aztecs emperor Moctezuma allowed the Spaniards, led by

Hernán Cortés Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano, 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca (December 1485 – December 2, 1547) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions o ...

into

Tenochtitlan , also known as Mexico-Tenochtitlan, was a large Mexican in what is now the historic center of Mexico City. The exact date of the founding of the city is unclear, but the date 13 March 1325 was chosen in 1925 to celebrate the 600th annivers ...

. Cortés turned on the Aztecs, taking Montezuma hostage, in order to control the empire through him. In the midst of this strategy,

Pánfilo de Narváez Pánfilo de Narváez (; born 1470 or 1478, died 1528) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' and soldier in the Americas. Born in Spain, he first sailed to the island of Jamaica (then Santiago) in 1510 as a soldier. Pánfilo participated in the conque ...

arrived in Mexico from Cuba to arrest Cortés. The conquistador left Tenochtitlan in the hands of

Pedro de Alvarado Pedro de Alvarado (; 1485 – 4 July 1541) was a Spanish conquistador, ''conquistador'', ''adelantado,'' governor and Captaincy General of Guatemala, captain general of Guatemala.Lovell, Lutz and Swezey 1984, p. 461. He participated in the c ...

, who ordered the massacre of nearly 1000 Mexica who were participating in the festival of Toxcatl. After dealing with Narváez, Cortés prepared to return to Tenochtitlan with a bigger force, having taken control of Narváez's crews. But first he sent ahead a caravan of supplies and people, including "Spanish women and children, enslaved Africans, and other servants carrying burdens and leading livestock." Learning of Alvarado's massacre, Cortés then rushed to

to try to quell the violent reaction to the Spaniards' cruelty. Not longer after he arrived, however, he and his men were expelled, resulting in the deaths of nearly all the soldiers and horses Narváez had brought. Before being completely routed, the Spaniards killed

Cacamatzin Cacamatzin (or Cacama) (c. 1483–1520) was the tlatoani (ruler) of Texcoco,Diaz, B., 1963, The Conquest of New Spain, London: Penguin Books, the second most important city of the Aztec Empire. Cacamatzin was a son of the previous king Nezahu ...

, king of the Acolhua capital of Texcoco. Not long afterward, the slow caravan that Cortés had sent first came through a mountain pass just north of

Iztaccihuatl Iztaccíhuatl or Ixtaccíhuatl (both forms also spelled without the accent) ( or, as spelled with the x, ) is a dormant volcanic mountain in Mexico located on the border between the State of Mexico and Puebla within Izta-Popo Zoquiapan National ...

. A recent archaeological expedition revealed that

warriors captured this group of Spanish civilians as they traveled to

. The Acolhua were part of the

, and acted in response to the murder of

, their king. This expedition reveals that the Aztecs did resist the

Spanish Conquest The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered in the European Age of Discovery. It ...

. The Aztecs imprisoned the Spanish caravan and over the course of six months, several hundred Spaniards and their slaves were sacrificed, tortured and partially eaten. The bones found shows that about 550 victims had their hearts ripped out during ritual offerings, and had their bones boiled and scraped clean. "It was a continuous sacrifice over six months. While the prisoners were listening to their companions being sacrificed, the next ones were being selected", Enrique Martinez, director of the archaeologist dig explained to a visiting reporter from the Reuters news agency. When Cortés found out much later what had been done to his people in Zōltepēc, he renamed the town Tēcuahqueh which means "they ate people" or "people eaters" in the indigenous

Nahuatl language 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 Nahuas, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller popul ...

. He then sent an army to destroy the town. Research published by the INAH in January 2021 found that more than 20 Aztec women and children were massacred when the Spaniards conquered the town. The residents had known a revenge attack was coming and tried in vain to defend the city. No men were found among the victims, presumably because the warriors had managed to flee. The conquerors also burned the temples and decapitated statues.

References

External links

UNESCO World Heritage Center — Tecoaque''Aztec Massacre''
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Secrets of the Dead ''Secrets of the Dead'', produced by WNET 13 New York, is an ongoing PBS television series which began in 2000. The show generally follows an investigator or team of investigators exploring what modern science can tell viewers about some of t ...

'',

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...