Online Encyclopedia
Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.
TOLTECS (Mexican Tolteca)
Online EncyclopediaEncyclopedia Home :: THE-TOO
del.icio.us it!
|
See also:TOLTECS (Mexican Tolteca) , or dwellers in Tollan (the See also:place of reeds), the name of a See also:people that if partly mythical is also partly See also:historical. Traces of this people can unquestionably be detected in historic times; and many cities, particularly those which carried on See also:traffic with the See also:coast, claimed to be of Toltec origin. The conception of Toltecs, like that of Chichimecs, acquired in See also:time so See also:general and vague a significance that in vocabularies such a word as " toltecatl " is interpreted as meaning merely an See also:expert artist. So that in some cases the name " Toltecs " denotes no more than some See also:race of Nahua See also:affinities possessed of a certain degree of culture. In others, however, there is a substantial See also:reason for believing in the existence of a specific tribe or people called Toltecs, though the genuine historical background has been obscured by the legends which the priests embroidered upon it to glorify their See also:hero and See also:god Quetzalcoatl. Our See also:ignorance as to the See also:distribution and movements of the native peoples before the time of the See also:Spanish invasion forbids any See also:positive statement as to the See also:original See also:home of the Toltecs. It is certain, however, that they, as well as their god and their See also:ancient See also:city of Tollan, were known to those who lived in the See also:Maya countries far beyond the confines of See also:Mexico proper. Their See also:migration-myths point to the eastern districts known as the " tierras calientes," famous for such valuable products as feathers and cacao, with which the Mexicans from the earliest times carried on a vigorous See also:commerce. It is. possible that the legendary wanderings of Quetzalcoatl (Feathered See also:Serpent), who was said to have committed himself to the flames in Tlillan-Tlapallan (theland of the See also:black .and red, i.e. the See also:land of picture-See also:writing); the region of See also:Tabasco and See also:Campeche, are mainly a mythological description of the See also:moon's periodic course. But even in that See also:case there can be no doubt that the nature-myth has been embellished with details derived from an actual race See also:movement which took place in prehistoric times. The Historia de Colhuacan y de Mexico is a most valuable See also:manuscript written by an See also:anonymous author in the Mexican See also:language. In this See also:work it is stated that Quetzalcoatl died in A.D. 895, and was followed by four See also:kings in See also:succession, after whom the See also:wise Huemac ascended the See also:throne in A.D. 994 under the name of Atecpanecatl. In the reign of this See also:sovereign there See also:broke out a See also:great See also:famine, which occasioned the institution of the See also:custom of human See also:sacrifice. From the same source we learn that it was in A.D. 1064 (a date which is assigned to the beginning of a See also:half-mythical See also:history by various other documents and See also:MSS.) that the Toltecs See also:left their homes and migrated eastward to Tabasco and Soconusco. At the same time Huemac killed himself in the See also:cave of Cincalco. Tradition ascribes to him the authorship of an encyclopaedic picture-writing called " teoamoxtli " dealing with the history of his people, with See also:astronomy, the See also:calendar See also:system, &c. According to the Historia de Colhuacan y de Mexico, which is confirmed in spite of some slight See also:variations of detail by Ixtlilxochitl, the duration of the " Toltec See also:Empire " was not more than 318 years. Archaeologists are justified in claiming as indubitable monuments of the Toltecs the serpent-pillars which have been found in situ at See also:Tula, See also:close to the City of Mexico. The historian Sahagun states that Tula was an old centre of the Toltecs and explicitly mentions these pillars as their work. It is interesting therefore to See also:note that the only other place where such pillars occur is Chichenitza in See also:Yucatan (see CENTRAI. See also:AMERICA: See also:Archaeology), a site which exhibits most strikingly Mexican features, so that archaeology fully confirms the assertion of the historians that Chichenitza, though in Mayan territory, was subject to the domination of some Nahua people. Chichenitza and Mayapan are the only sites in Mayan territory at which are found those See also:round temples, which are attributable exclusively to Quetzalcoatl, the See also:principal god and See also:national hero of the Toltecs. (W. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML. Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide. |
|
|
[back] TOLSTOY, PETR ANDREEVICH, COUNT (1645–1729) |
[next] TOLUCA, or TOLOCCAN |