Santa Cecilia Acatitlan - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

**Santa Cecilia Acatitlan**
Main staircase of the pyramid of Santa Cecilia Acatitlan
Name:	Santa Cecilia Acatitlan Archeological Zone
Location	Mexico State
Coordinates	19°33′09.30"N 99°10′24"W
Culture	Chichimeca Chichimeca Chichimeca was the name that the Nahua peoples of Mexico generically applied to a wide range of semi-nomadic peoples who inhabited the north of modern-day Mexico and southwestern United States, and carried the same sense as the European term "barbarian"...
Period	Late Postclassic

Acatitlan (Nahuatl

Nahuatl

Nahuatl is thought to mean "a good, clear sound" This language name has several spellings, among them náhuatl , Naoatl, Nauatl, Nahuatl, Nawatl. In a back formation from the name of the language, the ethnic group of Nahuatl speakers are called Nahua...

: "place among the reeds"; Spanish "carrizal") is an archeological zone of the early Aztec

Aztec

The Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the late post-classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.Aztec is the...

(or Epi-toltec) culture located in the town of Santa Cecilia, in the municipality of Tlalnepantla de Baz

Tlalnepantla de Baz

Tlalnepantla de Baz is a city and a municipality of the State of Mexico in the north of Mexico City . Tlalnepantla comes from the Náhuatl words tlalli and nepantla to mean the middle land...

in Mexico State, about 10 km northwest of Mexico City

Mexico City

Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...

. In pre-Hispanic times it was located on the northwest shore of the great Lake Texcoco

Lake Texcoco

Lake Texcoco was a natural lake formation within the Valley of Mexico. The Aztecs built the city of Tenochtitlan on an island in the lake. The Spaniards built Mexico City over Tenochtitlan...

Foundation

This settlement was associated with Tenayuca

Tenayuca

Tenayuca is a pre-Columbian Mesoamerican archaeological site in the Valley of Mexico. In the Postclassic period of Mesoamerican chronology Tenayuca was a settlement on the former shoreline of the western arm of Lake Texcoco, located approximately 10km to the northwest of Tenochtitlan...

, the political and religious center of the time; the two sites are about 3 km apart. Along with Tenayuca, it was later annexed by the Mexica

Mexica

The Mexica were a pre-Columbian people of central Mexico.Mexica may also refer to:*Mexica , a board game designed by Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling*Mexica , a 2005 novel by Norman Spinrad...

and became part of the lacustrine

Lake

A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...

culture of the Valley of Mexico

Valley of Mexico

The Valley of Mexico is a highlands plateau in central Mexico roughly coterminous with the present-day Distrito Federal and the eastern half of the State of Mexico. Surrounded by mountains and volcanoes, the Valley of Mexico was a centre for several pre-Columbian civilizations, including...

under the rule of Tenochtitlan, until the arrival of the conquistador

Conquistador

Conquistadors were Spanish soldiers, explorers, and adventurers who brought much of the Americas under the control of Spain in the 15th to 16th centuries, following Europe's discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1492...

s in 1521. After the conquest of Mexico, Acatitlan began to decline, and the city, like many other Mesoamerica

Mesoamerica

Mesoamerica is a region and culture area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, within which a number of pre-Columbian societies flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and...

n structures, was destroyed so its stone could be used to construct Christian churches.

Archaeological site

Only one quadranglar basement currently survives, which might have been one of the site

Archaeological site

An archaeological site is a place in which evidence of past activity is preserved , and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology and represents a part of the archaeological record.Beyond this, the definition and geographical extent of a 'site' can vary widely,...

's main structures. It consists of a large staircase leading up to a temple. Like Tenayuca, it is thought that the temple was dedicated to the worship of Huitzilopochtli

Huitzilopochtli

In Aztec mythology, Huitzilopochtli, also spelled Uitzilopochtli , was a god of war, a sun god, and the patron of the city of Tenochtitlan. He was also the national god of the Mexicas of Tenochtitlan.- Genealogy :...

and Tlaloc

Tlaloc

Tlaloc was an important deity in Aztec religion, a god of rain, fertility, and water. He was a beneficent god who gave life and sustenance, but he was also feared for his ability to send hail, thunder and lightning, and for being the lord of the powerful element of water. In Aztec iconography he...

. The construction method was probably the characteristic one of successive structures, one on top of the other, and at least four successive time periods have been detected. Today, the inside of the pyramid is one of the best preserved interior structures. The exterior structures were removed and many of their stones were used to build the adjacent church, which dates back to the late 16th century. In 1962, the architect and archaeologist Eduardo Pareyon Moreno

Eduardo Pareyón Moreno

Eduardo Luis Pareyón Moreno was a Mexican architect and archaeologist. He was a pioneer researcher in several aspects of modern Mexican archaeology...

reconstructed and reinforced the pyramid's basement and rebuilt the temple that crowns it. Although such a reconstruction certainly does not comply with current canons of archaeology, the product is a beautifully delineated Mexica pyramid

Mesoamerican pyramids

Mesoamerican pyramids, pyramid-shaped structures, are an important part of ancient Mesoamerican architecture. These structures were usually step pyramids with temples on top – more akin to the ziggurats of Mesopotamia than to the pyramids of Ancient Egypt...

, one of the best conserved examples of this culture.

Museum

Inaugurated in 1961, INAH operates an on site museum called the Eusebio Davalos Hurtado Museum of Mexica Sculpture. Eusebio Dávalos an archaeologist and the owner of the pulque

Pulque

Pulque, or octli, is a milk-colored, somewhat viscous alcoholic beverage made from the fermented sap of the maguey plant, and is a traditional native beverage of Mexico. The drink’s history extends far back into the Mesoamerican period, when it was considered sacred, and its use was limited to...

hacienda

Hacienda

Hacienda is a Spanish word for an estate. Some haciendas were plantations, mines, or even business factories. Many haciendas combined these productive activities...

which was once adjacent to the site and which now houses the museum. Dávalos dedicated part of his life to collecting the artifacts now on display. His collection includes ceramic and stone materials from this and other sites in the Mexica zone of influence. The museum also exhibits a kitchen and living room in the style of the period before the Mexican revolution

Mexican Revolution

The Mexican Revolution was a major armed struggle that started in 1910, with an uprising led by Francisco I. Madero against longtime autocrat Porfirio Díaz. The Revolution was characterized by several socialist, liberal, anarchist, populist, and agrarianist movements. Over time the Revolution...

. The museum is located on Calle Circuito Pirámide in Tlalnepantla.

Foundation

Archaeological site

Museum

Further reading