The decline of Teotihuacan in Central Mexico signaled the end of the Classic period and the beginning, around AD 650/700, of a period of social and political instability. This period, called the Epiclassic, was characterized by the rise of a number of smaller, usually fortified centers. These cities were the capitals of regional states which tried to occupy the political vacuum left by the collapse of the metropolis.
Among these centers we can include the sites of Xochicalco, Cacaxtla, Teotenango, Cholula and the early city of Tula, as well as El Tajin on the Gulf coast and the Puuc kingdoms of northern Yucatan, in the Maya area.
Geographical Setting of Xochicalco
The site of Xochicalco, in western Morelos, is located on a series of hilltops surrounded by terrains not suitable for agriculture. This aspect, along with the fact that the city was surrounded by a fortified wall and a moat, indicate that the priority of its constructors was to find a defensive location.
Xochicalco developed after A.D. 650 as a fortress city over a series of remodeled terraces whose higher levels were occupied by the civic-ceremonial sector and the lower ones by residential areas. Also, a system of roads connected the different urban sectors. The city reached its maximum extension of 1.5 square miles (4 square km) during the Epiclassic, approximately in A.D. 800.
Architecture at Xochicalco
Beneath Xochicalco, archaeologists have recorded a system of man-made tunnels resulted from the limestone quarries used to construct the site.
The Central Acropolis lies on top of a mountain whose internal caves were artificially remodeled to create a series of galleries.
The hilltop was a very secluded place with limited access and its focus was the famous Temple of the Plumed Serpent. Other monuments in the topmost sector of Xochicalco are three ball courts, a series of temple-pyramids and an elite residential area, probably a palace, where three stelae portraying three rulers were found.
The lower terraces were occupied by smaller residential compounds some of these with gardens, similar to the ones identified at Teotihuacan, where the bulk of the population lived. Some of these were excavated and several burials were found. In some cases archaeologists found evidence of a violent end, where dismembered bodies were covered by the remains of the burned houses.
Astronomical Caves a Xochicalco
One of the most famous of the subterranean tunnels found at Xochicalco is the so-called Observatory, or Cave of the Sun. Within this artificial cave the constructors of Xochicalco built a tube through which observe the passage of the sun. For a period of 105 days the sun rays enter the cave through this opening, projecting a light beam within this chamber where ritual and calendrical ceremonies took place.
According to the archaeologists working at Xochicalco, this sophisticated solar observatory can be considered an evolution of the subterranean chamber discovered at Teotihuacan.
Xochicalco Iconography
The Temple of the Plumed Serpent is decorated with relieves that closely resemble the art style of Teotihuacan, as well as contemporary motifs from the Maya area and El Tajin.
Furthermore, the uppermost platform of the Temple presents a series of twenty-six human figures with a glyph indicating tribute and a place name. These have been differently interpreted as a group of rulers subjected and tributary to Xochicalco or, alternatively, as the sign of a political confederacy with Xochicalco at its center.
A further aspect of Xochicalco iconography, typical of the Epiclassic, is the strong focus on militarism and warfare images.
Decline of Xochicalco
Archaeologists estimate that by A.D. 800 Xochicalco had a population over 15,000. Just a century later the city was destroyed, maybe by a rival state or internal turmoil, and it never recovered.
Sources
This glossary entry is a part of the About.com guide to the Mesoamerica, and the Dictionary of Archaeology.
Adams, Richard E. W. 2005, [1977], Prehistoric Mesoamerica. Third Edition. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.
Carrasco Davíd, Lindsay Jones, Scott Session, 2002, Mesoamerica’s Classic Heritage. From Teotihuacan to the Aztecs. University Press of Colorado, Boulder
Hirth, Kenneth, 1984, Xochicalco: Urban Growth and State Formation in Central Mexico, Science 225, pp:579–86.
Hirth, Kenneth, 2000, Archaeological Research at Xochicalco. 2 vols. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press.