Xochicalco

“ The curious perforated eye-plates of the Xochicalco chief, which he wore—apparently—to keep arrows and javelins out of his eyes, are part of the equipment of the Aztec warrior in the picture-writings, while Palenque and Copan seemed to afford no instance of them; so that in two peculiarities the remarkable sculpture before us seems to belong rather to Yucatan than to Mexico, and in one to Mexico rather than to Yucatan.
It is not even possible in all cases to distinguish Central American sculptures from those of Mexican origin. ”

“ Without opposing so fertile and strong a thesis, we will make some concrete observations. As well in the cipactli of Xochicalco as on page 72 of the Borgian Codex, the I3 divisions manifestly indicate 65 Venus years: the chronographic characters in the codex and the accompanying dates prove it without any sort of doubt. In Xochicalco each front of the edifice has tyings for the value of 416 years, corresponding to the two sculptured cipactli, and two more suggested by means of glyphs adjacent to the body of the monsters. These free symbols are 26 in each front ”

“ What are called the finest ruins in Mexico are those of Xochicalco, seventy-five miles southwest of the capital, consisting of a mound of five terraces supported by masonry, with a walled area on the summit. Of late years a cornfield surrounds what is left of the pyramidal structure, which was its crowning edifice, and which up to the middle of the last century had five receding stories, though only one now appears. ”

“ No inscriptions have been 179 found at this ruin, in spite of the many years of exploration.
Xochicalco.
Let us now pass over in brief review several ruins which belong to the Toltecan period. Xochicalco, the House of the Flowers, is a large ruin near Cuernavaca. The position seems to have been chosen primarily for defense. The rounded ridge that drops off into deep valleys on either side is laid out in courts, terraces, and pyramids. Only one building offers evidence of the sculptural skill of the ancient habitants. It is a temple, standing upon a rather low platform mound. ”

“ They were magicians, astrologers, medicine-men, musicians, priests, inventors of writing, and creators of the calendar. They were mannerly men, and virtuous, and lying was unknown among them. But they were not warlike—and this was to be their ruin.
PLATE XV. The temple of Xochicalco, partially restored. The relief band, of which a section is given for detail, shows a serpent; a human figure, doubtless a deity, is seated beneath one of the great coils. After photographs in the Peabody Museum.
Their principal deity was Quetzalcoatl, and his chief priest bore the same name. ”

“ Teotihuacan itself, as far as actual buildings are concerned, has many points in common with Tulan, and in its general arrangement shows a considerable similarity to Monte Alban. The last-named site is obviously closely connected with other remains in Oaxaca; and Xochicalco, from its decoration, has similar affinities, affinities which extend to the pre-Aztec remains of the valley. Mitla stands practically by itself as far as artistic ornamentation is concerned, though the arrangement of the buildings is quite Oaxacan in character. ”

“ The legs of tripod bowls, which are found in numbers, are usually moulded in the form of grotesque faces, or the heads of birds, beasts and snakes. Peculiar to Tlaxcala are interesting vases of black ware in the form of a Tlaloc face or figure, the details of which are applied. The scroll-work which constitutes a feature of the painted art bears a close analogy to the Xochicalco designs, and it is not surprising to find similar pottery in Oaxaca. ”

“ The stone carving at Xochicalco resembles that of Monte Alban especially as regards the hieroglyphs and is probably of somewhat later date than Teotihuacan. All in all the conclusion seems safe that writing was unknown outside the Mayan area before Quetzalcoatl devised ways and means.
Tula.
Building stone of good quality was available at this site and in consequence sculptures are plentiful. Particularly famous are the great sculptured columns which represent feathered serpents and gigantic human figures. The drums are mostly mortised and the columns are crowned by true capitals. ”

“ Xochitl is, really, an Aztec maiden who, when the Spaniards first appeared, was serving in the temple; Gonzalo, wounded, was brought a prisoner to the temple, where he is nursed by Xochitl, between whom and himself ardent love arises. After the capture of the city, they are separated and Xochitl is sent, as a slave to Tabasco, a present to Marina’s unknown sister. Marina summons her sister to Mexico; she starts but dies upon the journey and Xochitl, substituted for her, reaches the city and is taken at once into Cortes’ house, by her supposed sister. ”

“ The man is variously called Coxcox, Teocipactli, Tezpi, and Nata; the woman Xochiquetzal and Nena. The following has been usually accepted as the ordinary Mexican version of this myth: In Atonatiuh, the Age of water, a great flood covered all the face of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof were turned into fishes. Only one man and one woman escaped, saving themselves in the hollow trunk of an ahahuete or bald cypress; the name of the man being Coxcox, and that of his wife Zochiquetzal. On the waters abating a little they grounded their ark on the Peak of Colhuacan, the Ararat of Mexico. ”

“ Coxcoxtli thus saw his power in Anáhuac largely increased, but he was continually annoyed with petitions from the Mexicans for larger territory and permission to settle at various points in his dominions, and at the same time harassed by the encroachments of the Xochimilcas, particularly in the lake fisheries. He at last proposed to grant the requests of the Aztecs on condition that they would aid him in chastising the insolent and powerful Xochimilcas. The services of the followers of Huitzilopochtli were always in demand when there was fighting to be done. ”

“ Tezcuco was taken possession of by Nezahualcoyotl as his ancient inheritance, and his confederate Itzcoatl placed the crown on his head. Together they made war north and south. Xochimilco, on the lake next south of Mexico, yielded; and the people of Chalco, which was on the most southern of the string of lakes, revolted and were suppressed more than once, as opportunities offered. The confederates crossed the ridge that formed the southern bound of the Mexican valley and sacked Quauhnahuac. ”

“ The Aztec historians ascribe the building of the Pyramid of Cholula to the prophet Quetzalcoatl. The legends which relate to this celebrated personage are to be found in writers on Mexican history, and, more fully than elsewhere, in the Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg’s work.
I am inclined to consider Quetzalcoatl a real personage, and not a mythical one. He is said to have been a white, bearded man, to have come from the East, to have reigned in Tollan, and to have been driven out from thence by the votaries of human sacrifices, which he opposed. ”

“ At this time, according to legend, Nopaltzin, the successor of Xolotl, was ruling at Tenayocan, and the commencement of his reign cannot be put much earlier than 1225, since we are told that Tlotzin, his successor (called Huetzin by Ixtlilxochitl) , died in the year in which Tenochtitlan was founded. Xolotl, the founder of the “Chichimec” power, seems to have reigned long, and indeed the Mexican rulers as a whole seem to have been singularly long-lived. But in any case Xolotl cannot have led his followers into the Mexican valley much before the second half of the twelfth century. ”

“ Lakes Chalco and Xochimilco, however, are very different in their regimen and aspect. They are of fresh water, and stand at an elevation some 10 feet higher than Texcoco, into which they discharge. Fertile meadows surround these, and Xochimilco is now, as it was at the time of the Conquest, a "Field of Flowers," which is the meaning of its native nomenclature, not unworthy of the designation of an "earthly paradise," which the modern Mexicans bestow upon it. ”

“ I must here observe that there are a number of towns lying round about Mexico, all at about eight miles distance from each other. Of these, Xochimilco, Cojohuacan, Iztapalapan, Chohuilobusco, Quauhnahuac, Mizquic, and three or four other towns, are half-built in the lake itself, and none of these towns lie at a greater distance from each other than from six to eight miles, which accounts for the Mexicans being able to assemble so vast a body of troops against us in Xochimilco. ”

“ The grand causeway was eight yards wide, and ran straight to Mexico. In good order, the Spaniards marched over it between the assembled thousands of Indians. At about a mile from the city this causeway was joined by another from the town of Coyoacan, and at their juncture was a small, though strong, fortress, with walls ten feet high, battlements, two entrances, and a drawbridge. This point was called Xoloc, and was occupied by Cortez in the following year as his military headquarters, whence he directed the siege of the city. ”

“ The most important among the American traditions are the Mexican, for they appear to have been definitively fixed by symbolic and mnemonic paintings before any contact with Europeans. According to these documents, the Noah of the Mexican cataclysm was Coxcox, called by certain peoples Teocipactli or Tezpi. He had saved himself, together with his wife Xochiquetzal, in a bark, or, according to other traditions, on a raft made of cypress-wood (Cupressus disticha) . Paintings retracing the deluge of Coxcox have been discovered among the Aztecs, Miztecs, Zapotecs, Tlascaltecs, and Mechoacaneses. ”

“ The others, led by the old chief, Xicotencatl, whose son was commander of the armies, counselled opposition to them from the very beginning. Maxacatzin had suggested that these were probably the messengers sent from the god of the air, but the wise and sagacious Xicotencatl repelled this insinuation with scorn. "Those men," he said, "who demand entrance into our city appear to be rather monsters cast up by the sea, because it could not endure them in its waters, than gods descended from heaven, as some have vainly imagined. ”

“ Originally the goddess Xochiquetzal is perhaps nothing more than the deity of one of those mountains from which the life-giving waters flow down from the fields.” It is easy to believe that Xochiquetzal is a variant of Tonacaciuatl; but it is not necessary to infer therefrom that the Olmec-Tlaxcaltec version of the myth relating to her with its cosmogonic speculations was prior in origin to that which found acceptance at Mexico, even although the Olmecs were regarded as an older race. ”

“ It is the city most fit for Spaniards to dwell in of any that I have seen here, for it has some untilled ground and water so that cattle might be bred, a thing which no other of the cities we have seen possesses; for such is the multitude of people who dwell in these parts that there is not a hand-breadth of uncultivated ground." The luxury of the dress and life of the Cholulans seemed in keeping with the place, but the black robes of a countless priesthood lent a sombre and sinister tone to the otherwise joyous city. ”

“ Cortés now gave orders to burn the city, as a warning to the wilful inhabitants and preparatory to its evacuation. The soldiers, who had been interrupted in their plundering the day before, obeyed with alacrity. Xochimilco was a wealthy city, and not a Spaniard or ally but obtained an abundance of robes, feathers, and other effects, and even some gold, which helped to cheer those whom ordinary merchandise and slaves did not satisfy. The enemy had been watchful, however, and in their canoes they flitted round the city to cut off stragglers. ”

“ Coixtlahuaca itself is largely a mestizo town. But immediately in its neighborhood, and on its outskirts, are indian villages. All Chochos know Spanish, and but few talk their own language. There is little of interest in their life and nothing characteristic in their dress, which is that of mestizos in general. But the physical type is well defined. The stature is small; the face is short and broad; the nose is wide and flat, with a fat, flattened tip; the hair is somewhat inclined to curl, especially on top behind. ”

“ They made a brave resistance, but Itzcoatl's forces crossed their moat by filling it with bundles of sticks and brambles, and entered the town, driving the army to the mountains, where they soon surrendered. Authorities differ as to the treatment of the people and the government imposed, as they do in the case of most of the conquered cities; but Xochimilco was certainly made tributary to the Mexican king. The Cuitlahuacs were conquered in a later expedition. The cause of the war, as Tezozomoc tells us, was the refusal to send their young girls to take part in a festival at Mexico. ”

“ There is no hotel in the village, and the market-place is almost always desolate. This town once stood on the borders of the great lake of Chalco, the body of fresh water that poured a volume into Lake Tezcoco, through the lake and canal of Xochimilco. But now the lake is miles away, and only reached by canals cut through the sea of marshes. The inhabitants of the place have commerce with Mexico by canoes, and carry there fruits and flowers, though it is a day's journey distant. Fields of pulque, gardens, and trees surround Chalco on three sides, and in front is the marsh. ”

“ Silently they marched, in silence the populace received them. The spectacle reminded very old men of the day the great Axaya’ was borne in mournful pomp to Chapultepec. Once only there was a cheer, or, rather, a war-cry from the warriors looking down from the terraces of a temple. So the cortege passed from the city; so, through a continuous lane of men, they moved along the causeway; so they reached the gates of Xoloc, at which the two dikes, one from Iztapalapan, the other from Cojohuaca, intersected each other. There they halted, waiting for Cortes. ”