Tula, or Tollan, was the city where the Toltec civilization was born. Beginning as two cities in succession, it grew to become an empire that inspired countless Aztec myths. The Aztecs claimed to have descended from the people of Tula and mimicked their architecture while building Tenochtitlan. Past scholars noticed a striking similarity between the architecture at Tula and Chichén Itzá, which also suggests a connection to the early Mayans. Undoubtedly, the Toltecs influenced Mesoamerican history, but the stories told by the Aztecs may be more myth than truth.
Tollan: Mythology of the Toltec Capital
When the Spanish arrived in what is now Mexico, the Aztecs regaled them with stories of the great city of Tula, or Tollan Xicocotitlan. The Aztecs claimed they were the descendants of the people of Tollan—the Toltecs. Their stories told of a powerful yet peaceful civilization that grew giant ears of corn as well as cotton that came in multiple colors and had no need to be dyed. The tales of their skill and power had thoroughly infiltrated Aztec mythology. In Nahuatl, the word “Toltec” meant “artisan” or “one from Tollan,” and the Aztecs considered these people to be their intellectual and cultural precursors.
Their stories claimed that this once-great empire had created the calendar and the Nahuatl language and discovered the medicine that the Aztecs used. According to Aztec legend, in the 10th century, the Toltecs were led by a great king and priest named Topiltzin Quetzalcōātl. This king was the son of the goddess Chimalman and the god Mixcōatl. It was believed that Topiltzin received the name Quetzalcoatl after founding a cult surrounding the feathered serpent that was often featured in Aztec and other Mesoamerican mythologies. According to the legend, Topiltzin traveled across the lands, founding and naming small civilizations, before finally moving to the coast, where he burned himself in a canoe. The story of Topiltzin, along with the sensational stories of many other Toltec leaders, would be passed down by the Aztecs until they were recorded by Spanish chroniclers.
Early Tollan and Tula Chico
Though the Aztecs have many tall tales regarding the Toltecs, archaeological evidence has proven that most are not true. The one thing from these legends that is known to be correct is that the Toltecs established a very successful civilization at Tollan before its abandonment. The design of Tollan led archaeologists to believe that it had been modeled after Teotihuacan, the largest city in pre-Columbian Mesoamerican history. Teotihuacan was known for its carefully planned structure, which included a central citadel, apartments, and streets laid out in a neat grid pattern. The city had a thriving economy that relied on agriculture, manufacturing, and trade. The obsidian tools, figurines, and pottery that Teotihuacan’s artisans made were well-regarded by surrounding civilizations.
Tollan first appeared as a large regional power between 800 and 900 CE, not long after the fall of Teotihuacan. Some evidence suggests that before 800 CE, the Chichimeca people had settled in the region and lived alongside other groups until the fall of Teotihuacan. It was during the Epiclassic Period, from 600 to 900 CE, that the emergence of the Coyotlatelco culture is seen in the archaeological record. This culture is well known for its distinctive pottery style. Around 600 CE, small hilltop settlements began to merge into a larger city that archaeologists today call Tula Chico.
During this time, the people of Tula built ball courts, pyramids, and other structures, all while developing the early culture of the Toltecs. Around the 8th century CE, Tula had grown into a moderately large city of about 20,000 people. However, by 900 CE, the city had been largely abandoned for no clear reason. Some evidence suggests that while a few temples remained in use after Tula Chico’s decline, other structures were burned and destroyed.
Tula Grande, a Second Life for the Toltecs
Soon after the abandonment of Tula Chico came the birth of Tula Grande, less than a mile away. Major growth of the city happened between 900 and 1200 CE, reaching a population of about 55,000 people. The people of Tula Grande grew domesticated crops such as corn, amaranth, beans, chili peppers, squash, cactus, and cotton. Like the Olmecs before them, they had an extensive obsidian tool market that sourced raw materials from the Pachuca Mines. Obsidian would be shaped by experts within each family before being traded to places as far as present-day Guatemala and Costa Rica. The people of Tula Grande were also experts at making fabric, weaving fibers made from cotton and cacti. Pottery was another specialty for which they could thank their Coyotlatelco ancestors.
Studies of their bones revealed that they would have often sat in chairs and that they suffered from few diseases. An abundance of ball courts suggests a great love of the Mesoamerican game, which entailed hitting a ball through a stone hoop using only the hips or elbows. The city also contained many new temples and palaces used in conjunction with the old temples that remained in Tula Chico. It is believed that the parts of Tula Chico that survived abandonment became the ceremonial precinct of the newly established city of Tula Grande.
However, this new city was not immune to the problems that had caused the downfall of those before it. Society at Tula Grande had disappeared by 1200, leaving behind ruins that would be occupied by another civilization that was gaining power—the Aztecs. There is no definitive known reason for the abandonment of Tula. However, some archaeologists speculate that invasions from Chichimecas in the north and a lack of rainfall to water their crops would have made supporting the population difficult.
Toltec Art and the Mystery of Chichen Itza
Though the Aztecs were interested in the mythical stories surrounding Tollan, it was the art the Toltecs produced that intrigued archaeologists. Art often came in the form of carvings on the sides of pyramids, usually depicting jaguars, coyotes, and vultures eating human hearts. One significant piece of art from Tula Grande is the Coatepantli, which translates to “Wall of Serpents.” Carved into the Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl, the wall depicts human skeletons emerging from the mouths of or being devoured by feathered serpents. Analysis of the wall revealed that the skeletons and teeth of the serpents would have been painted white at one time, while the bodies of the serpents would have either been blue or yellow.
Because rituals were known to occur on the Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl, some have hypothesized that the skeletons depict people from different social classes experiencing the stages of death and ascension to the afterlife. However, other researchers have noted that surrounding Mesoamerican civilizations often used human bones in death cult rituals. This led them to believe that the depictions of skeletons on the walls of the Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl would have been used in cults at Tula in the place of physical bones.
The Coatepantli wasn’t the only mystery surrounding Toltec art. In the past, many early archaeologists had noted the fact that the designs of Tula and the Mayan city of Chichén Itzá were eerily similar. Both cities displayed an appreciation for sports, as evidenced by the number of ball courts that had been built. They also used some of the same imagery within their art, such as the feathered serpent Quetzalcoatl and the Atlantean soldier columns. This led to multiple theories of how the two cities came to be so extraordinarily similar. The Mayans had told stories of a Toltec leader called Kukulcan, another name for Quetzalcoatl, who helped them build Chichén Itzá. This led to an initial theory that the Toltecs, early in their occupation of Tula, had invaded the Mayan lands to the south, where they built the city of Chichen Itza. However, recent scholars have suggested that the similarity between the architecture of the two cities is merely due to a Mesoamerican exchange of ideas and culture.
Myth vs. History: Tula and the Toltecs
From examination of the archaeological remains at Tula, it can be said that the Toltecs were a great and powerful people. However, many modern researchers doubt that the Aztec stories about Tollan were actually about Tula. Teotihuacan and Tenochtitlan were both much larger than Tula and contained populations upwards of 100,000 people. By comparison, Tula had a population that was half that of the aforementioned cities. The buildings were also constructed using adobe, which did not withstand the test of time as well as the stone of other Mesoamerican cities. Another point that has been brought to the forefront of this investigation concerns the meaning of the words “Tollan,” “Toltec,” and “Tula.” In Nahuatl, Toltec can mean “artisan” as well as “inhabitant of Tula.” Meanwhile, Tollan can mean “the city of Tula” but can also mean “a place of reeds.” Further research into Aztec records has revealed that the word “Tollan” was loosely used for any great city of the time, not just for Tula.
Some modern scholarship suggests that the Aztec stories of Tollan may have combined the histories of two cities—Teotihuacan and Tula—into one great creation myth. Teotihuacan is often referred to as the “primordial” Tollan, while Tula is the “historical” Tollan. If this theory is true, it would explain the stories that the Aztecs told about a great city built by the gods, assuming they were referencing the breathtaking city of Teotihuacan. However, there is still debate over whether the Aztecs combined these two cities into the story of Tollan or were just referring to Teotihuacan as Tollan.
Despite these uncertainties, one undeniable truth is that the Toltecs and Tula had an enormous impact on the Aztecs and the history of Mesoamerica. Even though the city existed for just a short time, its art and architectural styles were used long after its abandonment, in the creation of the great Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan.
