Xochitécatl

Xochitécatl is an archaeological site in the state of Tlaxcala in Central Mexico. It is a ceremonial site that was used over a 3,000 year time span. Visitors should visit this site together with nearby Cacaxtla. The two sites are only 10km apart and they share some common history, but they're worlds apart in their cultures and world views.

Understand
Xochitecatl is managed by the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH), an agency of the federal government with responsibility for protecting Mexico's antiquities. Xochitécatl was opened to the public in 1994, but remains lightly visited, despite being located only a few kilometers from the Cacaxtla site. Cacaxtla is a fascinating place, but Xochitecatl is far older and more representative of the Mesoamerican cultures that once dominated Central Mexico.

The site lies within Mexico's volcano belt, and Xochitecatl was built on top of an extinct volcano. An inscription on the Spiral Temple has been translated as, "Permission from the volcanoes is required to live in Xochitécatl." A sentiment that still applies to the entire Central Mexico region.

History
The city was founded sometime between 1000 BC and 500 BC during the Preclassic era and served as a ceremonial center for various populations over the centuries. Although the population evidently dwindled after 600 AD with no new construction happening after that time, the city remained populated in larger or smaller numbers over the years and was used by various regional populations.

During the Preclassic Period, construction of the oldest, and most well-known structures was started---probably about 800 BC. These buildings included the Pyramid of Flowers, the Spiral Building, and the Serpent Building. The city was abandoned about 150 AD, probably to flee the eruption of Popocatepetl.

Around 600 AD (Late Classic Period), the neighborhood went to pot when the Mayans moved in next door at Cacaxtla. The Maya didn't take over Xochitecatl, but its thought they used the Mexica as laborers (or whoever the Central Mexican people of the day were who lived there). Around this time, the locals were smoking some bad juju as they started doing things like sacrificing children to appease their Gods.

Both Cacaxtla and Xochitecatl were largely abandoned by about 950AD, though there is evidence that ceremonies, such as the ritual sacrifice of human children continued up until the arrival of the Spanish in the early 16th century.

Archaeological explorations
The site was first mapped by Pedro Armillas in 1941. A German expedition under the leadership of Bodo Spranz in the late 1960s did some preliminary excavations and established the city's first timeline. In 1993 and 94, the INAH conducted major excavations under the guidance of Mari Carmen Serra Puche. The goal of the 1990s excavations was to explore (and restore) principal structures at the site's core. These excavations discovered obsidian workshops in the Pyramid of Flowers and in the Serpent Building.

Get in
The cheapest way to get to Xohitecatl is to take a bus to San Martín Texmelucan, which is about 10 minutes from the site by taxi. A bus ticket from Puebla's CAPU bus station to San Martin Texmelucan costs M$60 on Super Rapidos for the 50 minute ride. (Super Rapidos buses also leave Mexico City's TAPO bus terminal. The 2-hour ride to San Martin Texmelucan costs about M$140.)

Fees and permits
Entry to the site costs M$80 per adult. The fee includes admission to the site museum. The site is open daily from 09:00 to 17:30.

See

 * Pyramid of Flowers is a large pyramid, roughly the length and width of a football field. It's in relatively good condition considering that it's about 3,000 years old. It's also a place full of grisly stories that will probably turn your stomach. Archaeologists found more than 30 children buried here with green beads stuffed in their mouths (evidently a practice to help ease their way to the next world). Although adult females weren't found there, the site contained thousands of clay figures of women in various roles and stations in life. There were pregnant women, women giving birth, women engaged in daily activities, and women doing things we shall not speak of here. In the 1990s, an obsidian workshop was discovered that contained more than 200 projectile points, along with a number of animal sculptures and an exquisite sculpture of the goddess Xochitl, who can take the form of either a beautiful woman or a venomous snake. The Pyramid of Flowers was built to align the front facing the La Malinche volcano. On September 29, the sun rises directly over the volcano, casting beams of light into the temple.


 * Serpent Building is a smaller structure that gets its name from a stelae that was found here showing a snake baring its fangs. An obsidian workshop was also found in this structure.


 * Spiral Building is an unusual structure that is a kind of spiral walkway up the hillside. Fortunately, today there's a modern steel stairway you can use to quickly climb to the top. The Christian cross was placed at the top in 1632. A couple buried bodies were found here and the structure is assumed to have been a temple to the wind god, Ehecatl.


 * Platform of the Volcanoes - Smaller structure built during the Middle Preclassic era with later expansions. Over 200 figurines were discovered here in the 1960s by the German expedition led by Bodo Spranz, including a flayed female identified as the goddess Tlazolteotl, who was the goddess who would forgive sexual deviance and who cured STDs. Archaeologists also found remains of human infants in the upper part of the platform.


 * Site Museum - A small museum is open at the site and there is no additional charge to enter. Some of the figurines recovered from the site are on display, along with a few of the larger sculptures. Most of the best artifacts are on display in the Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City.

Go next

 * Cacaxtla
 * Tlaxcala