Tilantongo is an important archaeological site in the state of Oaxaca in Southern Mexico. Tilantongo was a Late Postclassic city-state of the Mixtec group. The site lies beneath the modern town of Santiago Tilantongo, in the Mixteca Alta region of Western Oaxaca.
Earlier Developments in the Mixteca
Early occupation started in the Formative period when farming communities settled in the area and founded the center of Monte Negro on a hilltop, not far from where the center of Tilantongo will later develop.
During the Formative and Classic periods, Monte Negro and then Tututepec, a site on the Pacific Coast, were among the most important centers of the Mixteca, whereas Tilantongo was one of the many smaller polities of the region. This period was characterized by a high degree of conflict between the several Mixtec kingdoms.
The Rise of the Tilantongo Kingdom
Archaeological evidence suggests that Tilantongo was abandoned around AD 800-900. However, documents from the pre-Hispanic and Colonial period supported by archaeological data show that Tilantongo reemerged during the Postclassic period and became the center of the Mixtec kingdom in the last centuries before the Spanish conquest.
Mixtec Sources
Mixtec codices, like the famous Codex Nuttall, tell the story of mythical couples of Mixtec nobles who founded many royal capitals in the Mixteca region, after a period of conflict. These epochal tales probably mixed historical and mythical events, a useful strategy to Late Postclassic Mixtec nobles for justifying their rulership. One of the most important and portrayed Mixtec king was Lord 8 Deer “Jaguar Claw”, who eventually unified the kingdoms of Tututepec and Tilantongo.
Archaeological Evidence at Tilantongo
Archaeological excavations in the modern town of Santiago Tilantongo, where the pre-hispanic site lies beneath the colonial church of the town, support the role of Tilantongo as a Mixtec capital. However, the size and architecture of site is quite modest for one of the most important Mesoamerican polities of its time.
Excavations have documented the presence of a large palace/temple complex, within a ceremonial core, which was surrounded by a series of smaller settlements. Other materials include a large amount of polychrome pottery and a carved stone, but nothing at Tilantongo resembles the monumental size of, for example, the Classic period settlements.
To explain this oddity, archaeologists have proposed that because of its antiquity and its role as the center of the most venerated Mixtec dynasty, Tilantongo rulers didn’t need to “show off” and construct elaborated monuments to impress its people or other nobles. Its high rank was accepted by virtue of its prestigious history as birthplace of the mythical king Lord 8 Deer.
Sources
This glossary entry is a part of the About.com guide to the Ancient Mesoamerica and the Dictionary of Archaeology.
Carrasco, David (ed.), 2001, The Oxford Encyclopedia of Mesoamerican Cultures, vol. 2, Oxford University Press.
Joyce, Arthur A. (2010). Mixtecs, Zapotecs and Chatinos: Ancient peoples of Southern Mexico. Wiley Blackwell.