The Best of Both Worlds

The Mexican government decided to grant us all the day off on Monday, and of course I duly took advantage of the occasion.  On Sunday I finally made my long planned trip out to the ruins of Tula.  I have been really getting into the Mixtec stuff lately (commonly known as the Aztecs), and not concentrating so much on the Toltecs, but there isnt really that much material out there anyway, so it wouldn’t be a big deal to jump back 400 years from what I have been reading to go check out what was left up in Tula. 

The Mixtecs took much of their inspiration and mythologies from Tollan.  They told stories about the mighty Toltecs, who had invented pretty much everything good to man, including writing, and lived in cities of gold.  For a long time specialists in the field thought that the Mixtecs could only be referring to Teotihuacan, which seemed the only place capable of measuring up to such a grand legacy.  But finally, a concensus was reached that the actual Tollan that the Mixtecs were referring to was located at the ruins in Tula. 

The ruins at Tula are famous for the atlantes, four giant pillars carved into the shape of warriors with a spear at their side, which stand on top of a raised platform where a temple once stood.  The one that was removed and placed in the National Museum in Mexico always wowed me, with its inhuman robotic like eyes and mouth, yet with its lines so cleanly marked, and beautifully carved.  This was obviously done by experts, but what could inspire someone to put so much work in to something so cold and unfeeling?  It feels like an alien must have made it.  The four on site are all similar with only slight differences in style.

They are striking because as you reach the top of the platform, you see them standing there, stark and imposing, with a backdrop of dried yellow grass and cacti rolling off into the endless blue sky.  They used to covered by an outer temple, however, and so we must be left to imagine how they looked at the time of Tula.  At the bottom of the platform there are a series of reliefs depicting skeletons being eaten by serpents. 

Outside of structure B, with the atlantes, there are also two ball courts; another temple (now in a complete state of ruin); and a former palace, of which now only the pillars which demarcated the separate rooms now exists.

The ruins at Tula are probably most well known for their similarities with Chizen Itza in Yucatan.  I have yet to visit Chizen, so any commentary on their relationship will have to wait, but on its own Tula is a very rewarding place to visit, with not only historical value, but also aesthetic pleasures as well.  The site is well maintained, and there is a fair amount to see.  It seems so small for a kingdom which supposedly controlled a large part of central Mexico, but then that fits with the entire mystery that surrounds the Toltecs.  Compared to Teotihuacan and the Mixtecs, they didn’t leave too many great accomplishments that we can see, but you get the feeling that something is out there somewhere still waiting to be discovered.