Tecoaque

Tecoaque is a Mesoamerican archaeological site, located in western Tlaxcala state, central Mexico, close to Calpulalpan. The site was inhabited by the Acolhua, one of the three ethnic groups making up the Aztec Empire (their capital being Tetzcohco, one of the three seats of Aztec power). Tecoaque had many white-stucco temples and was the home to approximately 5,000 people, mostly priests and farmers.

Tecoaque, western Tlaxcala state.

Etymology

The name is a colonial transcription of the Nahuatl "Tēcuahqueh," meaning both "they ate people"[1] and "people eaters." It consists of "tē-," the indefinite object prefix for people; "cuah," the past / participle form of the verb "cua" (to eat), meaning "ate" / "eating"; and the plural suffix "-queh."

Tecoaque replaced the earlier name of Zōltepēc, meaning "at quail mountain" (from "zōlin," quail, and "tepētl," mountain).[2]

Site description

Tecoaque includes a prominent circular structure dedicated to Ehecatl.[3] Parts of this primary three-tiered structure, which has an eastern facing stairway, were restored in 1992. Nearby archaeological features include residential structures and an important rectangular plaza.

World Heritage status

This site was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List on 6 December 2004 in the Cultural category.[4]

1520 capture of Spanish civilians

Initially, the Aztecs emperor Moctezuma allowed the Spaniards, led by Hernán Cortés into Tenochtitlan. Cortés turned on the Aztecs, taking Montezuma hostage, in order to control the empire through him.[5] In the midst of this strategy, Pánfilo de Narváez arrived in Mexico from Cuba to arrest Cortés. The conquistador left Tenochtitlan in the hands of Pedro de Alvarado, who ordered the massacre of nearly 1000 Mexica who were participating in the festival of Toxcatl. After dealing with Narváez, Cortés prepared to return to Tenochtitlan with a bigger force, having taken control of Narváez's crews. But first he sent ahead a caravan of supplies and people, including "Spanish women and children, enslaved Africans, and other servants carrying burdens and leading livestock."[6]

Learning of Alvarado's massacre, Cortés then rushed to Tenochtitlan to try to quell the violent reaction to the Spaniards' cruelty. Not longer after he arrived, however, he and his men were expelled, resulting in the deaths of nearly all the soldiers and horses Narváez had brought. Before being completely routed, the Spaniards killed Cacamatzin, king of the Acolhua capital of Texcoco. Not long afterward, the slow caravan that Cortés had sent first came through a mountain pass just north of Iztaccihuatl. A recent archaeological expedition revealed that Acolhua warriors captured this group of Spanish civilians as they traveled to Tenochtitlan. The Acolhua were part of the Aztec Empire, and acted in response to the murder of Cacamatzin, their king. This expedition reveals that the Aztecs did resist the Spanish Conquest.

The Aztecs imprisoned the Spanish caravan and over the course of six months, several hundred Spaniards and their slaves were sacrificed, tortured and partially eaten. The bones found shows that about 550 victims had their hearts ripped out during ritual offerings, and had their bones boiled and scraped clean.[7]

"It was a continuous sacrifice over six months. While the prisoners were listening to their companions being sacrificed, the next ones were being selected," Enrique Martinez, director of the archaeologist dig explained to a visiting reporter from the Reuters news agency.[8]

When Cortés found out much later what had been done to his people in Zōltepēc, he renamed the town Tēcuahqueh which means "they ate people" or "people eaters" in the indigenous Nahuatl language. He then sent an army to destroy the town.

Research published by the INAH in January 2021 found that at least a dozen women and their children were butchered. Residents knew a revenge attack was coming and set up defensive works that failed. Some of the men were able to flee, but remains of women protecting ten 5 or 6 year old children were discovered over a 120 metres (390 ft) stretch of road in the center of the town. Victim′s bodies were found mutilated inside rooms. Temples were burned and statues were decapitated.[1]

References
  1. "Spaniards killed women, kids over slaying of conquistadores". AP NEWS. 18 January 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  2. Yuhas, Alan (10 October 2015). "Conquistadors sacrificed and eaten by Aztec-era people, archaeologists say". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 19 October 2015.
  3. Kelly, Jerry (2001), An archaeological guide to central and southern Mexico, University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-3344-9 p 135
  4. Tecoaque - UNESCO World Heritage Centre; 6 December 2004.
  5. "Aztec capital falls to Cortés". History Channel. 13 August 1521. Archived from the original on 7 March 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  6. Townsend, Camilla (2019). Fifth Sun: A New History of the Aztecs. New York City: Oxford University Press. pp. 113, 261. ISBN 9780190673062.
  7. "Aztecs Tortured, Ate Spaniards, Bones Show". Los Angeles Times. 26 August 2006.
  8. Usborne, David (25 August 2006). "Montezuma's revenge: Cannibalism in the age of The Conquistadors". The Independent. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022.
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