C. Post-Classic Period

During the Post-Classic period important cultures developed among the Toltec, the Tarascan, the Huastec and Totonac, the Mixtec, and the Aztecs.

1. Toltec and Maya-Toltec

About 64 km (about 40 mi) north of Mexico City is Tula, the capital of the militaristic Toltec, whose early Post-Classic empire was established in the 10th century AD . An austere society of pragmatic warriors, the Toltec were concerned more with function than form, and they produced few luxury objects. Their most valued pottery, for example, was plumbate ware imported from non-Toltec artisans who lived on the Pacific coast near the Mexico-Guatemala border. (The only glazed pottery developed in ancient American, plumbate ware had a metallic, usually greenish-gray surface that resulted when a clay coating melted to form glaze.)

Toltec architecture and sculpture were diminished reflections of the ruins of nearby Teotihuacán. The psychology of Toltec aesthetics, however, was to inspire temporal fear rather than the spiritual aspiration and harmony sought by the Teotihuacán civilization. The temple atop the pyramid of Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli at Tula has columns 4.6 m (15 ft) high, fashioned as fearsome warriors rigidly guarding the sacred precinct. Around the base of this pyramid are palaces and ceremonial halls, probably for the military elite. At the north foot of the pyramid is an architectural feature developed by the Toltec; called the coatepantli, or serpent wall, it may have enclosed a secret ceremonial space. Another Toltec innovation to inspire dread was the tzompantli, a low platform near the main pyramid on which racks were erected to display the severed heads and skulls of human beings that had been sacrificed.

According to later mythical-historical accounts of doubtful reliability, the Toltec invaded (circa 1000 AD) the Yucatán Peninsula and made the Puuc Maya city of Chichén Itzá their colonial capital. Most of this site now reflects the juxtaposition of Late Maya and Early Toltec taste and iconography. In addition to Tula architectural innovations, serpentine columns shaped like the god Quetzalcoatl (the Plumed Serpent) and Chacmools—recumbent figures holding offering bowls—are also found. Frescoes depict conquest. The quality of design and artistry at Chichén Itzá is superior to that at Tula, reflecting the more advanced artistic abilities of local Maya architects and artisans.

The Caracol at Chichén Itzá (circa 1050, Yucatán, Mexico) has a tower with two concentric walls and a circular staircase inside leading to a small room near the top of the structure. The windows along the staircase and the opening at the top were probably used for astronomical observation, which is why the Caracol is also known as The Observatory. Tom Owen Edmunds/Bridgeman Art Library, London/New York

By 1250, in the Yucatán, a new Maya capital was established at Mayapán, a walled city rather than the open center built by the Classic Maya. Tulum is another Post-Classic Maya walled city. Located on the Caribbean coast, this was the first Mesoamerican city described by the Spanish.

2. Tarascan

The Tarascan flourished in western Mexico from the beginning of the Post-Classic period until the Spanish conquest. Their capital at Tzintzuntzan on Lake Pátzcuaro had yacatas—characteristic stepped circular temples arranged in a line and connected by a single rectangular platform. The earliest metalwork in Mesoamerica probably was done by the Tarascan, who may have learned the technique through Pacific Ocean trade with Central American or Andean Native Americans. Tarascan copper ornaments were as sought after as their feather work and textiles.

3. Huastec and Totonac

At the time of the Spanish conquest the Huastec culture was located on the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico, while the central coast was occupied by the Totonac, whose major city was Zempoala. Excellent stone sculptors, the Huastec were also known for carving seashells with intricate cutout designs.

4. Mixtec

By the 10th century Mixtec rulers from the neighboring highlands had fought and married their way into parts of the Zapotec Valley of Oaxaca. Occupying Monte Albán as a necropolis, or city of the dead, they built fortified cities such as Yagul, as well as the important religious center of Mitla. Mixtec edifices are decorated with distinctive geometric stone mosaics.

Mixtec codices (the only one of which was preserved is the Codex Zouche-Nuttall), murals, and painted pottery attest to this people's accomplishments at drawing and painting. They were the finest metalworkers of Mesoamerica, and the pottery produced in the Mixtec-Puebla style at Cholula was the most highly valued ceramic ware in 14th- and 15th-century Mexico. The Mixtec also excelled in decorating masks, sacrificial knives, and other objects with mosaic inlays of coral, shell, turquoise, and other stones, as well as obsidian. Woodcarving was also a highly developed craft, used particularly for making intricately decorated atlatls (spear-throwers) and for carving teponaztli (slit-drums, or hollow horizontal, cylindrical percussion instruments), for ceremonial use.

5. Aztec

The last major Mesoamerican civilization was that of the Aztec, who were also called Mexica (from which the name Mexico is derived). Between 1428 and 1521 the Aztec produced and collected as imperial tribute some of the finest remaining examples of pre-Columbian art.

The Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán, the present site of Mexico City, was one of the largest and one of the most beautiful cities in the world at the time of the Spanish conquest. Built in Lake Texcoco on natural islands and artificial islands called chinampas, Tenochtitlán was similar in concept to Venice, Italy. The streets were primarily canals, and boats were the major form of transportation. Today, the central plaza of Mexico City overlies the main Aztec ceremonial center. Recent excavations in the Aztec Templo Mayor by Mexican archaeologists have yielded the most spectacular archaeological discoveries of this century in Mexico.

The Aztec produced monumental freestanding stone sculpture. In this sculpture the Aztec were capable of abstraction, as well as a realism that reveals both the internal and external character of the deity, person, or animal portrayed. Much Aztec stone sculpture was used for architectural decoration and representations of deities; it was also employed for human sacrificial altars, cuauhxicalli (containers for human hearts and blood), calendar stones, and other major ceremonial objects.

Extremely skilled in the art of carving, Aztec artisans often created minute details on extremely rugged surfaces. This piece from about AD 1500, carved out of stone, depicts the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl, the creator of all life according to Aztec tradition, along with commemorative dates and other symbols. In the column's center, Quetzalcoatl is depicted emerging from the jaws of a serpent. Werner Forman/Art Resource, NY

Pre-Columbian artists often incorporated mosaic work into their creations. This Aztec mask is made of wood covered with polished pieces of turquoise. The teeth and eyes on the face are made of shell. The mosaic pieces are attached to the wood with a vegetable resin. This mask was probably used for specific dances or rituals. Bridgeman Art Library, London/New York

In execution and conception the codices produced by the Aztec are of extremely high quality. Only a few survived the destruction of the Aztec libraries during the 16th century by the Spanish missionaries.

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