Tzintzuntzan was the Postclassic capital of the Tarascan (today Purhepecha) empire of northern Mesoamerica. Its name means “place of the hummingbirds”.
Tzintzuntzan was located in the basin of the lake Patzcuaro, in North-central Mexico, in the Mexican state of Michoacán.
According to different prehispanic and colonial sources, the Purepecha (Tarascans) arrived on the shore of the Patzcuaro basin in the 10th century and between the 12th and 15th century managed to control the whole region and Tzintzuntzan became the capital of a florent kingdom.
According to the Relación de Michoacán, an important Colonial document, Tzinztuntzan originated as a religious center for the cult of their patron Curicaueri and then developed into an urban center.
Tzintzuntzan Site Organization
What is visible today of the ancient site of Tzintzuntzan is only the ceremonial center with its typical yacata buildings. The rest of the ancient settlement lies under the modern town.
Archaeological research identified four main areas, which were probably distinct residential wards, intended for different social groups.
The site was an active center, head of a market system and of an important court that governed over subsidiary settlements. Different craft specialists produced pottery, feather and metal works for the local elite and for exchange purposes. Like the Aztec craft specialists, these artisans were organized into guilds, and each one had its own patron god.
The king palace was located in a central area over a large platform and included several buildings dedicated to administrative and storage purposes, not differently from contemporary Aztec ones. The shrine of the god Curicaueri was also located near the site core.
When the Spanish arrived in 1520, Tzintzuntzan had a population of over 20,000 people. The Tarascan king, trying to avoid the same treatment suffered by the Mexica, surrended to the Conquistadores and for a brief period, the city became the colonial capital of the Spanish province of Michoacan.
Sources
This glossary entry is a part of the About.com guide to Ancient Mesoamerica, and the Dictionary of Archaeology.
Adams, Richard E.W., 2005 [1977], Prehistoric Mesoamerica. Third Edition. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman
Marcus Joyce, 2001, The Tarascan Empire, in Davíd Carrasco (ed.), The Oxford Encyclopedia of Mesoamerican Cultures, vol. 3, Oxford University Press.