Cacaxtla is the name of a Late Classic to Epiclassic (AD 600-900) city in the Puebla Valley, Tlaxcala, Mexico. At its height, Cacaxtla had a population of about 10,000 Olmeca-Xicalanca people. The site is known for beautiful Maya art-influenced murals, and architectural features such as a great platform mound, temples, a granary, and at least nine defensive moats.
Important murals at Cacaxtla illustrate agriculture (the Red Temple), symbolism (Temple of Venus), and magic and religion (Building A). Feathered serpents and mythical water creatures are depicted, as are humans, jaguars and birds. Cacaxtla conquered Cholulu in the 7th century AD and became the capital of the valley, blending Nahua, Mixtecs and Chochopolocans, until they in turn were overthrown by the Toltecs.
The first archaeological survey was conducted in the 1940s by Pedro Armillas; salvage excavations to offset damage caused by looters was completed in the 1970s by the Puebla-Tlaxcala Regional Centre. INAH has conducted work at the site since then, most recently as part of the Xochitécatl Project, led by Angel Garcia Cook.
Sources
This glossary entry is a part of the About.com Guide to the Mixtec Civilization and Guide to the Maya Civilization, and part of the Dictionary of Archaeology.
Garcia Cook, Angel. 2001. Cacaxtla (Tlaxcala, Mexico). p. 87 in Archaeology of Ancient Mexico and Central America: An Encyclopedia, Susan Toby Evans and David L. Webster, eds. Garland Publishing, Inc. New York.
McVicker, Donald 1985 The "Mayanized" Mexicans. American Antiquity 50(1):82-101.
