The Basin or Valley of Mexico is a highlands plateau in central Mexico roughly corresponding to modern-day Mexico City. Here, we are interested in the period when the Basin was under the control of a city known as Tula (c. 900-1199 CE). Some scholars have argued that Tula corresponded to Tollan, the capital of the Toltecs; according to the Aztecs as well as other Mesoamerican sources, the Toltecs were the Aztec’s hegemonic predecessors in the region.
[1]
Tula itself had up to 60,000 inhabitants.
[2]
The Basin of Mexico experienced an increase in the number of settlements, and archaeological data suggest that the rural population had access to the same material goods and trading networks as Tula.
[3]
There is no evidence that Tula was the capital of an empire, but it is clear that its influence extended beyond the confines of the Basin of Mexico, and that it extracted food and other revenue from its surrounding region. The city’s many buildings with large halls and evidence for feasts and other types of large gatherings, as well as depictions of processions, suggest that, perhaps like Teotihuacan, it may have relied on an administrative system wherein power was distributed among different sectors of society.
[4]
[1]: (Healan and Cobean 2012: 372) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/FZJZ92TE.
[2]: (Carballo 2019: pers. comm. to E. Cioni and G. Nazzaro)
[3]: (Healan and Cobean 2012: 377) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/FZJZ92TE.
[4]: (Healan and Cobean 2012: 380) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/FZJZ92TE.
| [30,000 to 60,000] people |
| [20,000 to 25,000] km2 |
| [150,000 to 200,000] people |
| inferred present |
| inferred present |
| inferred present |
| present |
| unknown |
| inferred present |
| unknown |
| present |
| unknown |
| present |
| unknown |
| absent |
| present |
| absent |
| present |
| present |
| unknown |
| unknown |
| absent |
| absent |
| absent |
| absent |
| absent |
| absent |
| present |
| present |
| inferred absent |
| inferred absent |
| inferred absent |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| inferred absent |
| inferred absent |
| present |
| inferred absent |
| present |
| absent |
| absent |
| present |
| present |
| absent |
| inferred present |
| absent |
| present |
| Year Range | Toltecs (mx_toltec) was in: |
|---|---|
| (900 CE 1199 CE) | Basin of Mexico |
"The Tollan phase (950AD-1150 or 1200) marks the major occupation of the capital, with the city [Tula][...] reaching an estimated population of 30,000-40,000". [1] David Carballo suggested a rough estimate of "50-60k" inhabitants for Tula at this time. [2]
[1]: (Coe 1994: 138) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/5DJ2S5IF.
[2]: (Carballo 2019: pers. comm. to E. Cioni and G. Nazzaro)
"By about CE 1200, there were fewer than 200,000 people in the Basin". [1]
[1]: (Evans 2004: 438) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/EWW3Q2TA.
levels. The polity included Hamlets, Small Villages, Large villages and small provincial or regional centres. Information retrieved from table 5.13 of Sanders et al. 1979 [1]
[1]: (Sanders et al 1979: 138) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/L743EUD5.
Professional soldiers are known by Teotihuacan (ca. 250-550 CE). The information for this code is based primarily on art and are less secure than what we know from the Aztec Period (1450-1521). [1]
[1]: (Carballo, David. Personal Communication to Jill Levine and Peter Turchin. Email. April 23, 2020)
Professional military officers are known by Teotihuacan (ca. 250-550 CE). The information for this code is based primarily on art and are less secure than what we know from the Aztec Period (1450-1521). [1]
[1]: (Carballo, David. Personal Communication to Jill Levine and Peter Turchin. Email. April 23, 2020)
Full time bureaucrats are known by Teotihuacan (ca. 250-550 CE). The information for this code is based primarily on art and are less secure than what we know from the Aztec Period (1450-1521). [1]
[1]: (Carballo, David. Personal Communication to Jill Levine and Peter Turchin. Email. April 23, 2020)
"Other kinds of civic buildings [at Tula] one might expect to find with more excavation includes palaces, marketplaces, government storehouses, and calmecacs (priestly schools)".
"Other kinds of civic buildings [at Tula] one might expect to find with more excavation includes palaces, marketplaces, government storehouses, and calmecacs (priestly schools)".
"Whereas no sites are documented as fortified or military observatories during the Formative and Classic periods, approximately one quarter of sites are during the Epiclassic and one-third of sites are during the Postclassic." [1]
[1]: (Carballo and Pluckhahn 2007: 615) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/MUW5MHB7.
Tula has yielded no metal of any kind, neither copper nor gold. [1]
[1]: (Coe 1994: 142) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/5DJ2S5IF.
Tula has yielded no metal of any kind, neither copper nor gold. [1]
[1]: (Coe 1994: 142) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/5DJ2S5IF.
Tula has yielded no metal of any kind, neither copper nor gold. [1]
[1]: (Coe 1994: 142) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/5DJ2S5IF.
Tula has yielded no metal of any kind, neither copper nor gold. [1]
[1]: (Coe 1994: 142) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/5DJ2S5IF.
"...slings may well have been used for greater distance." [1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 112) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG.
Not mentioned in detailed descriptions and lists of Toltec weaponry.
Not mentioned in detailed descriptions and lists of Toltec weaponry.
Not mentioned in detailed descriptions and lists of Toltec weaponry.
Pyramid B had two rooms which were supported by four warriors carrying an atlatl and a bag of incense. [1] "Toltec arms included atlatls and darts, knives, and a curved club that I have labelled a short sword." [2]
[1]: (Coe 1994: 139) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/5DJ2S5IF.
[2]: (Hassig 1992: 112) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG.
"Toltec arms included atlatls and darts, knives, and a curved club that I have labelled a short sword." [1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 112) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG.
"Toltec arms included atlatls and darts, knives, and a curved club that I have labelled a short sword." [1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 112) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG.
Not mentioned in detailed descriptions and lists of Toltec weaponry.
Not mentioned in detailed descriptions and lists of Toltec weaponry.
"Toltec arms included atlatls and darts, knives, and a curved club that I have labelled a short sword." [1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 112) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG.
Not mentioned in detailed descriptions and lists of Toltec weaponry.
Although domesticated dogs were present during this period, [1] [2] their function is unclear (food and/or hunting), [3] [4] and war dogs were unknown in Mesoamerica at the time of the Spanish Conquest; indeed, Hassig lists war dogs among the new military "technologies" the Spanish introduced to the region in the sixteenth century [5] [6] [7]
[1]: Savolainen, P., Y. Zhang, J. Luo, J. Lundeberg, and T. Leitner. (2002) "Genetic evidence for an East Asian origin of domestic dogs." Science 298:1610-1613.
[2]: Leonard, J. A., R. K. Wayne, J. Wheeler, R. Valadez, S. Guillén, and C. Vilà. (2002) "Ancient DNA evidence for old world origin of new world dogs." Science 298: 1613-1616.
[3]: Sanders, William T., Jeffrey R. Parsons, and Robert S. Santley. (1979) The Basin of Mexico: Ecological Processes in the Evolution of a Civilization. Academic Press, New York, pg. 285.
[4]: Rosenswig, Robert M. (2015) "A Mosaic of Adaptation: The Archaeological Record for Mesoamerica’s Archaic Period." Journal of Archaeological Research 23(2): 115-162.
[5]: (Hassig 1992, 143) Hassig, Robert. 1992. War and Society in Ancient Mesoamerica. London; Berkeley: University of California Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/collectionKey/F76EVNU3/itemKey/E9VHCKDG
[6]: Hassig, Ross. (1988) Aztec Warfare: Imperial Expansion and Political Control. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, pg. 237.
[7]: Hassig, Ross. (1992) War and Society in Ancient Mesoamerica. Berkeley: University of California Press, pg.163.
"Toltecs [were] bearing spearthrowers and back shields". [1]
[1]: (Evans 2004: 402) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/EWW3Q2TA.
"There were two types of armor, full body and left arm, both made of quilted cotton." [1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 114) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG.
"There were two types of armor, full body and left arm, both made of quilted cotton." [1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 114) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG.
"Protection against enemy darts was provided by a heavy padding of quilted cotton on the left arm". [1]
[1]: (Coe 1994: 140) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/5DJ2S5IF.
"There were two types of armor, full body and left arm, both made of quilted cotton." [1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 114) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG.
"There were two types of armor, full body and left arm, both made of quilted cotton." [1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 114) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG.
"Headgear consisted of a pillbox-shaped hat". [1]
[1]: (Coe 1994: 140) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/5DJ2S5IF.
"There were two types of armor, full body and left arm, both made of quilted cotton." [1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 114) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG.
"There were two types of armor, full body and left arm, both made of quilted cotton." [1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 114) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG.