Epi-Classic Cultural Dynamics in the Mezquital Valley

Interaction Spheres and Distribution Networks in Mesoamerica

"This dispersion [of jade plaques] poses interesting problems,
as it is not consistent with our overall impression on the
isolation of the Maya lowlands during the Late Classic
and the limited exchange of ceramic objects at that time."
(Proskouriakoff, 1974:14)

Notwithstanding the fact that the Basin of México has been considered a fundamental actor in the historical developments of Mesoamerica, it has not been a primary agent in the establishment of pre-hispanic systems of communication and exchange. In the peculiar Mesoamerican geography, the coastal strips have been important routes along which objects and ideas have traveled, branching off in the inlands. Unfortunately, our knowledge about this area commonly considered as marginal is rather poor, and the efforts of those who work in the coasts are hardly beginning to fill this void.

Important cultural and geographical distances turned shorter via the Mexican Gulf, and in this sense, like Jaime Litvak claims, it is important to consider the importance of Veracruz "as the general harbor within a total Mesoamerican network" (1987:204); maybe we should add to it the Isthmus of Tehuantepec as an equally important knot of cultural connections (Schmidt, 1999:427; Fash and Fash, 2000:433), and of course, as the antecedent to another major corridor: the Pacific.

In Mesoamerica, and at least since the Formative period,⁴⁴  a network began to configurate, which included a few major river-beds, like those that run parallel to the coastal strips and merged in the Isthmus, those that embraced the Basin, and the other one that penetrated into the Basin from the south. This is what architect Ignacio Marquina tells us:

"The ceramic remains of this period are much more abundant, and evidence the wide extension of the archaic culture, as they have been found in the States of México, Querétaro, Morelos, Hidalgo, Veracruz, Tamaulipas and Guerrero […] However, the detailed study of these types […] seems to evidence that the core of the archaic culture is not to be found in the Central Mesa; on the contrary, this was a peripheral culture derived from the influence on populations that inhabited Central México, by a well developed culture in the Gulf Coast, from Tamaulipas to southern Veracruz, which extended along the basin of the Pánuco River and throughout the valleys of Puebla and Morelos, to Teotihuacán and Cholula, and even farther to Michoacán and Guerrero. This would indicate that since those days, which could be placed two or three centuries before the Christian Age, there was already some kind of unity among the cultures from the Gulf and the Central Mesa, and consequently, there are a number of common features in monuments and ceramics which persist through their later development […] since then, and everywhere, the basic features of buildings are also the same, even though they differentiated, at a later time, with varieties typical of each region" (Marquina, 1941:137-138).

In a comparative study between Veracruz and the Maya Region, Eric Thompson has shown that the links between these regions in pre-hispanic times were constant: "[…] since the Formative time and until the arrival of the Spaniards, Veracruz and the Maya region were linked by strong cultural bonds" (1953:453). Evidences of these contacts are present from Guatemala to Belize, across the states of Chiapas and Tabasco up to the Mexican Gulf, and then north along the coast up to Tampico.⁴⁵  In general, this connection corresponds to the area Lee Parsons (1969) denominated the "Peripheral Coastal Lowlands", or PCL. Thompson seems to be surprised for the interruption in the joint use of ceramic types during the Classic, something that did not happen with many other elements (ibid.:450). This is an example that in spite of its utility as a chronological and correlative referral, the ceramic changes considered as abrupt are not always synonymous of equivalent fractures in the social system.

Thompson notes that in contrast with the close communication with the south, the Huastecan groups seemed to be alienated from their inland neighbors. It is true that the links are not too evident, but they exist. We should ask ourselves, how did the shell samples from the Gulf reach the south of Querétaro and the west of Hidalgo,⁴⁶  and how the almost identical integration of contexts in western Hidalgo and the northern Yucatán Peninsula was possible (see page 30 in this volume).

Given the remarkable coincidence between the architectural and sculptural styles from Chichén Itzá and Tula, the societies that inhabited the coastal strip of the Gulf have been considered intermediaries in close relation with both sites. However, the apparent scarcity of ceramic materials common to all these areas has always been surprising, specifically in regard to cultural traits common to Tula and their western neighbors (Diehl and Feldman, 1974:106; McVicker and Palka 2001:193). Actually, this would derive of the poor archaeological information available for Central Veracruz and the Huasteca. As archaeological explorations keep progressing, this void of common features and objects is gradually dissolving.

At a certain moment, it was believed that there were no types in Tula that could be considered as imports from the Huasteca, and the same was true in the other way around (Diehl and Feldman, 1974:106). However, the Las Flores Polychrome (Las Flores Poícromo) and Tlaxco Black on White (Tlaxco Negro sobre Blanco) types are present in the Mezquital Valley by Early Post Classic times (Fournier, 1995:446-447, figs. 20 and 21, chart 9), and presumably the Incised with a White Coat (Inciso con Baño Blanco) from Period V in Ekholm’s sequence (see Ochoa, 1984 [1979]:36); at a later date, Tancol Polychrome (Tancol Poícromo) and Black on White (Negro sobre Blanco) of Period VI appear (Ekholm 1944:364, 431-433; Ochoa, 1984 [1979]:39-40) (see Fournier, 1995, figs. 20 and 21). The presence of Huastec potteries from Period V has also been identified in Tula (Cobean 1978:119; Diehl, 1983:115, 144; Healan et al., 1989:246) and it has been presumed that the concept of circular architecture, present for example in the building of El Corral, is the result of a "Huastecan" impact (Diehl, 1983:143). In the opposite sense, it has been observed that: "A few ceramic types in the Tampico area and other places, closely resemble the materials from the Tollán phase, and architecture with Toltec similarities may be observed at Castillo de Teayo and other sites" (Diehl, 1983:144). The interaction between these two areas is also consistent with the fluvial system, as the Tula River is a tributary of the Pánuco River (Diehl and Feldman, 1974:107). To Diehl and Feldman, this relation represents the northward deviation of Tula’s expansion, as the expansion to the east was not possible due to the presence of El Tajín (Diehl and Feldman, 1974:107). However, between the Toltec capital and the societies settled in the central and southern portions of the Veracruzan territory, material coincidences are also observed (Cobean, 1978:119; Diehl, 1983:115, 144; Healan et al., 1989:246; Paredes, 1990:58, 77, 196, 210).

At Tula, ceramics similar to the ones from Isla de Sacrificios (Healan et al., 1989:246) and Tres Picos (Diehl, 1976:263) in Central Veracruz have been detected. It is believed that Fine Orange (Naranja Fino), so common among the sites from southern Veracruz, Tabasco and Campeche, is not present in Tula (Diehl, 1983:115; Healan et al., 1989:246-247; McVicker and Palka, 2001:193), though Cobean and Mastache specify that this pottery is not present in "significant amounts" (1989:44); besides, a complete vessel is exhibited in the site museum. Beatriz Braniff argues that in fact, Fine Orange is present in Tula (Braniff 1972:289), and also in other sectors of the North-Central Plateau, like Carabino, north of Guanajuato (Braniff, 1972:280-281) and Villa de Reyes, south of San Luis Potosí (Braniff, 1992:152). Nalda refers to it in regard to San Juan del Río, at the south of Querétaro (1975:98; 1991:34). This ceramic is also reported in the Huasteca, where stylistic connections with several Pánuco types have been noted (Ochoa, 1984 [1979]:36). It is possible that the wheeled figurines recovered in Tula were originally from Central Veracruz (Diehl and Feldman, 1974:106; Diehl, 1976:266; Diehl 1983:109; Diehl and Mandeville, 1987:239, 241), and they are also present in the Huasteca.⁴⁷

In a similar way, there are resemblances between some iconographic traits from Tula and the Tajín region, as is the case with the Stela from Cerro de la Morena (see Pascual, 1990). As to a burial slab from Building J, in ancient Tollán, Karl Taube notes that the treatment (an elongated muzzle was added to the image of Tláloc) is similar to the images of the rain god in Tajín (in Mastache and Cobean, 2000:124). Ringle, Gallareta and Bey argue that in the South Ballgame from this latter site, sculptures of the Chac Mool type were represented, and architect Marquina refers to some sort of Chac Mool in Misantla, several kilometers at the southeast of Tajín (Ringle et al., 1998:203).

Referring once again to the Huasteca, we have mentioned that some kind of isolation was presumed in regard to the rest of the Mesoamerican territory towards the Classic and Epi-Classic periods, considering that during Periods III and IV, the Huastecan types do not evidence direct connections with other cultural areas, as opposed to the ceramics of the following period (Thompson, 1953:450; Ochoa, 1984 [1979]:31). Anyway, we concur with Lorenzo Ochoa when he says that "[…] everything tends to indicate that such connections were not from Period V, but instead, that they must have started along the previous one, that is, during the last portion of the Classic period […]" (1984 [1979]:33).

The exchange of objects between the Mezquital Valley, the Huasteca and Central/Southern Veracruz was not limited to the Post Classic period. In the first region, and since the Epi-Classic, vessels with pastes that may have been imported from the coast have been identified (Fournier, 1995:61, 69; for the Huichapan-Tecozaulta region, see Socorro de la Vega Doria, personal communication, 2001; for Chapantongo, Cervantes and Fournier, 1996:118; for Tula, Matos, 1974:67; Diehl, 1983:115, 143; Healan et al., 1989:246; Paredes, 1990:58, 77, 196, 210) together with some local pieces that show remarkable similarities in shape and decoration with those from the Huasteca. Pit 1 from Tula Chico is reported to have "pottery from the Gulf" (Matos, 1974:67) and García Payón has noted that the sites from Tuzapan and Castillo de Teayo include Mazapa pottery (1971, in Diehl and Feldman, 1974:107).

Another object probably imported from the Huasteca region or Central and Southern Veracruz, at least since the Epi-Classic, are spindles, decorated or covered with chapopote (tar) from Sabina Grande and Tula (see note 18, and also Diehl and Feldman, 1974:106; Paredes, 1990:194, this author also refers to chapopote "fragments" in two rooms at the site of Cerro de la Malinche, in the surroundings of Tula, ibid.:153-154).

Most probably, the connection between Tula and the peninsula of Yucatán remained close thanks to this route (McVicker and Palka, 2001:194) and that as a natural consequence, such connection may have reached other areas from the North-Central Plateau, again, since Epi-Classic times. As an example of this, we may recall the well-known pipe recovered at the Temple of the Warriors in Chichén Itzá (Morris et al., 1931:177-179, illus. 21), which has been considered an import from the Toltec capital or Michoacán (Porter, 1948:210; Thompson, 1966, in Cobean 1978:73). Ten similar examples (complete pieces and fragments) were located in Tula during the explorations of the Burnt Palace conducted by Acosta, but with that exception, its frequency in this city is not significant (Cobean, idem). In contrast, these objects are abundant in other areas of Hidalgo close to its boundaries with Querétaro, where they possibly were manufactured, or else, where their use seems to have been widespread (Figure 11 and Figure 12). We shall come back on this matter later.⁴⁸

An additional evident example of the bonds that existed between the Tula area and the southern lands, referring once more to the Early Post Classic, is the amazing abundance of Plumbate ceramics and several samples of Nicoya Polychrome (Nicoya Polícromo) in the Hidalgo site (Diehl, 1976:263; 1983:115; 1987:142; Cobean, 1978:97, 114; Cobean and Mastache, 1989:44; Healan et al., 1989:246; Paredes, 1990:84). In the Huasteca, no Plumbate pottery has been found (though there is a local imitation: a "lead-colored" type also imported by Tula, Ochoa, 1984 [1979]:38), but in fact, it was present in Central Veracruz (Diehl and Feldman, 1974:106), while Tlaloc effigy braziers have been recovered at Los Tuxtlas and as far as the Balankanché cave (Thompson, 1973:268; Cobean, 1978:105; Cobean and Mastache, 1989:46), with a production attributed to Tula during the Tollán phase.

Perhaps the networks established between the Tula region and the Gulf coastal strip, most probably since the Epi-Classic, became stronger with time. Maybe we should ask ourselves whether this could be a possible consequence of the gradual abandonment of the Red-on-Buff ceramic tradition and the integration of orange and cream wares that characterized the peak of ancient Tollán; a change of direction that intrigued several authors (see Cobean, 1978:96-97; 1982:75-76; Healan et al., 1989:244).

According to a different source of interregional connections, some coincidences have also been noted between Tula and Xochicalco (Noguera, 1941:161; Sáenz, 1962a:73-80; Litvak, 1972:67), considering the second one as an important influence on the glyphs and the earlier art of the first, in addition to its architecture (Cobean, 1978:56; de la Fuente, 1995:174). In this relationship, the Basin of México may have also played a secondary role. For what we know, evidences that directly connect Xochicalco with the Classic and Epi-Classic settlements of the Valley of México are scarce, notwithstanding that a number of elements in its art and architecture derive therefrom. Debra Nagao considers that the sculptures from Xochicalco show iconographic motifs but lack any Teotihuacán stylistic feature, and states: "It would seem that Teotihuacán was not an important commercial partner and neither a center of influence in the artistic emulation of Xochicalco" (1989:96; Litvak thinks differently, 1972:57-59).

Since Teotihuacán times, a differential relationship was observed between the Basin of México and the Morelo valleys, this being a much closer one with the sites located at the centre and the east of the State (Angulo and Hirth, 1981; Sugiura, 2001:372). In some points of the Western Valley, Teotihuacán materials have been recovered (including Xochicalco, Sáenz, 1962a:80), but these seem to be scarce in comparison with their abundance in the rest of the Morelos territory (Angulo and Hirth, 1981:86-87). Anyway, in the Epi-Classic, Xochicalco apparently disconnected itself from the Valley of México (Sugiura, 1996:234, 238; 2001:349, 360, 376).

This contrast responds to geographical logics. While in the central and eastern portions there are several natural passages that lead to the Basin, in the northern Western Valley the steep Ajusco sierras begin. This mountainous system extends north, limiting or surrounding the Valley of México (Angulo and Hirth, ibid.:82). Possibly, the inhabitants of this area in Morelos may have maintained a richer communication with the populations at the west of the Basin, including the neighboring Toluca Valley. And perhaps this was also applicable to the Mezquital Valley through the same route, reaching Jilotepec and further the Tula area, or continuing up to Huamango. In this latter site, ceramic types from both the Toluca region and the west portion of Mezquital join together (Segura and León, 1981:116-117), similarly to Teotenango (Nalda, 1996:269, note 17), and resemblances have already been noted among some components of the Toltec wares, the ceramics from the Toluca Valley⁴⁹  and from Michoacán (Acosta, 1940; 1941; 1945; 1956-57 in Cobean, 1978:72).⁵⁰  Due to the presence of Matlatzincan ceramics at Xochicalco, Noguera suggests that the connection of this site with Tula could have been maintained through the Toluca Valley (1941:161), a network which since the Middle Post Classic has been recognized through the dispersion of Tlahuica potteries, embracing Morelos and the Matlatzinca area (Litvak, 1972:69), but which also reached the Mezquital Valley, where a number of sherds have been identified (de la Vega Doria, personal communication, 2001).

There are additional evidences connecting Xochicalco with the Toluca Valley. Jaime Litvak notes that towards the end of the Epi-Classic "[…] the types in fact connect the valley [of Xochicalco] with northern Guerrero and the Toluca area" (1987:206), but he does not specify what samples he is referring to. Perhaps he is talking about potteries with a thick orange slip, whose distribution follows a similar pattern, absent in the Basin of México and the eastern portion of Morelos, but connecting the valleys of Xochicalco, Malinalco and Toluca during the Epi-Classic (Sugiura and Nieto, 1987:459-463; Sugiura, 2001:360). This ceramic is also found in the warm lands of Guerrero, where it might have originated, due to the inclusion of crushed shell in the paste (Sugiura and Nieto, ibid.:458-463). In addition, Sugiura notes that some "features from Xochicalco" have been identified in the architectural and sculptural style of the Northern System of Teotenango (1996:242; 2001:360).

Finally, it appears to be greatly significant that during the Epi-Classic, obsidian was imported in Xochicalco from Michoacán (Garza and González, 1995:128). From the results of the Xochicalco Mapping Project, it appears that Ucareo/Zinapécuaro was, by large, the major supplier of obsidian (Healan, 1997:77, 1998:102; Healan and Hernández, 1999:136; Hirth, 2000:284-290) and the easiest way to do this must have been precisely across that Toluca Valley, where obsidian was obtained from the same source (Sugiura, 1996:234, 247; 2001:360, 383-384).⁵¹

A different important source of obsidian for Xochicalco was Zacualtipán, Hidalgo (Hirth, 2000:284-290; Cobean, 1998:135), and interestingly, this material has been identified also for the Late Classic up to Laguna Zope and Ejutla, in Oaxaca, and in some locations from Chiapas and Guatemala (Cobean, 1998:135; Nelson and Clark, 1998:282-283, 293-296).

The region of Xochicalco is characterized by the connections it maintained with multiple places. It has been noted that the height of its splendor was largely due to its strategic situation in relation to different commercial systems, being directly connected with Guerrero, the State of México, Oaxaca, the Maya Area and the Gulf Coast (Litvak, 1972; Senter, 1981:149; de la Fuente, 1995:146-147, 155, 173-174; L. Luján, 1995:270; Hirth, 2000); however, the character of the relationships this society maintained with others, could hardly result from one unique cause. Trade may have been one of the most important ones, but the adoption and adaptation of alien stylistic, glyphic and numeric features, suggests that there also existed other communication channels (León Portilla, 1995:35). Debra Nagao says: "[…] it would seem that Xochicalco tried to develop a style of its own, taking symbolic and glyphic elements from a variety of sources, without allowing that any particular source prevailed" (1989:97), and "[…] the styles that blend and mingle give birth to a new personality" (de la Fuente, 1995:188, 194).

As to the possible communication between the North-Central Plateau and the Western Valley of Morelos, Jorge Acosta observes that "[…] both the Toltec hieroglyphs and numerals resemble the ones from the Zapotecan region in a greater degree than those of any other culture. This may indicate that there was some cultural exchange between the last stage of Monte Albán and Tula, and though we do not know where such an exchange may have taken place, we believe it might have been through Xochicalco, a site with several calendrical signs common to both places […]" (Acosta, 1954:92). The writing and numbering systems are among the primary aspects, as they represent some of the few traceable testimonies of information exchange. This aspect links Xochicalco mainly with Oaxaca and the Maya Area (Sáenz, 1962b; Litvak, 1972:61).

It has been argued that the relationship of the Oaxacan valleys with the Central Plateau during the Classic had a primarily intellectual foundation, due precisely to the development of the numeric and writing systems (Coggins, 1980:59; Winter, 1998:157), but the extension of such contacts has been underestimated. Little is known about their impact on areas different from Teotihuacán, and in terms of time frame, its presence was presumably limited to the peak period of that city: "[…] the Zapotec presence in Central México may have been more complex and may have become more widespread than documented in Teotihuacán" (Winter, 1998:160-161, note 4). We know, for instance, about settlements with Oaxacan ceramics in locations from Hidalgo, such as Chingú (Díaz, 1981:109), and the northeast of Tepejí del Río, in El Tesoro and Acoculco (Cobean, 1978:84; Cobean et al., 1981:189-190; Diehl, 1987:133; Cobean and Mastache, 1989:37; Hernández, 1994). Those who have addressed the dispersion of Zapotec features in Central México suggest that contacts began at an early stage (Paddock, 1972b:257), and continued after the Classic, notwithstanding Monte Albán and Teotihuacán had lost most of their population and political power (Winter, 1998:176-179; Scott, 1998:185).

Also since Formative times, a close relationship between the Oaxacan societies from the Central Valleys and the Maya is apparent (Fash and Fash, 2000:439), and grew stronger as the Classic period unfolded (Coggins, 1980). It is possible that such relationship had plenty to do with the integration of Xochicalco to the Maya networks, provided this took place through the Mixteca and the middle portion of the state, although it might also have developed parallel to the Pacific Coast, like Jiménez Moreno suggests: "[since the Formative] Maya influences seem to have reached Xochicalco–in Noguera’s view–who argues that the probable route must have been along the coast of Oaxaca where Brockington and De Cicco found Mayoid objects–and then along the coastal Guerrero, where Moedano found similar elements" (1959:1049-1050). It would seem that along this route also the Mezcala style dispersed to the east and south, to reach, according to Sáenz, Guatemala and Costa Rica (1962a:53).

In spite of the thorough studies accomplished on the connections that the Central Valleys from Oaxaca maintained with remote lands, little is said about the situation that prevailed with their coastal neighbors. Again, the writing system links both these areas (Urcid, 1993; Joyce, 1993:76), whose developments regarding other cultural aspects, seem alien to them (Joyce, ibid.:72-75). Apparently, the coastal fraction corresponding to Oaxaca developed a relatively independent cultural system, hooked, however, to the commercial network of the Central Oaxaca Valley, which was interested in shell ornaments from that region, at least during the Formative (Joyce, ibid.:69-72); to Central México during the Classic (Joyce, ibid.:74-76), and on a permanent basis, to the network Lee Parsons denominated the "Peripheral Coastal Lowlands" (PCL) that includes territories from El Salvador, Guatemala and Chiapas, then climbs through the Isthmus and embraces almost the entire territory of Veracruz (Zeitlin, 1993:121-122, figure 1) (about the relationship between both coasts see also Sáenz, 1962a:42-45; Fash and Fash, 2000:439). Also with these neighbors from the PCL, the inhabitants of the Oaxacan coast seem to have maintained a relationship which was not exclusively of a commercial nature, as the link is primarily expressed in features of a joint religion (Zeitlin, 1993; Joyce 1993:76).

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Endnotes

44. Regarding the tracing of materials such as jade, green obsidian and quetzal feathers, engineer Joaquín García Bárcena concludes: " […] many of the exchange routes were in use since the Pre-Classic, and all of them, apparently, since the Classic, although the use of the N.W. route (La Quemada–Chalchihuites) does not seem to have been established before the Late Classic […] Then, a constancy is observed in regard to the commercial routes used in Mesoamerica throughout time, although the intensity of use of one route in particular may not have been constant. This constancy was probably due to the fact that the materials susceptible of being transported through long distances were desirable during the entire period comprised between the Middle Pre-Classic and the XVIth century […]" (G. Bárcena, 1972:154). In turn, Jaime Litvak refers to a "[…] formalized route pattern communicating Mesoamerica, as a whole and regionally, one that worked for the transportation of both goods and ideas. Such a network must have been established very early in time, in fact not later than the Pre-Classic, suffering constant change throughout its existence. Such changes reflect […] the also changing pattern of cultural interaction in the super area." (1972:72). See also Jiménez (1989:36) and Jiménez and Darling (1992:22), regarding the ’structural backgrounds’ of macroregional networks.

45. One example that reinforces Thompson’s thesis regarding the scopes of this network is represented by the ceramics with a basal flange, a strong diagnostic of Xochicalco, about which Eduardo Noguera states: "[…] it is found in the period of Monte Albán I, and it should be noted as well that a similar feature is present in the ceramics of other regions, like the Tampico–Pánuco area, and Tres Zapotes and Cerro de las Mesas, in the State of Veracruz. […] almost in an identical manner in the ceramics from San Agustín Acasaguastlán, in Guaytán, and in those from Uaxactún, Maya localities situated in Guatemala" (Noguera, 1960:69; see also Sáenz, 1962a:80). One additional trait connecting those regions that is also present in Xochicalco are the yokes and axes (Sáenz, 1962a:42-45, 80), connected with the practice of the ballgame.

46. After the analysis of shells from La Negreta, south of Querétaro, we know that at least during the Classic, samples from the Atlantic and the Pacific have arrived to this region (Brambilia Velasco, 1988:291). Pieces from the Pacific and the Gulf have also been identified in Tula (cf. Diehl, 1976:262, 1983:92, 94; Cobean and Estrada, 1994:78) while some shell samples recovered from El Zethé are known to be originated in the Gulf (López Aguilar, personal communication, 2002).

47. Wheeled figurines have been widely distributed in Mesoamerica. In addition to Tula, they have been found in Tenenepango (foothills of the Popocatépetl); Xolalpan (Teotihuacán); and in the states of Michoacán, Guerrero and Nayarit (Diehl and Mandeville, 1987). In Veracruz, they are found in Tres Zapotes, Pavón, Pánuco, Nopiloa, Remojadas, Cocouite and Tlalixcoyán, while some samples have been recovered in Central America, for instance at the site of Cihuatán, in El Salvador (Diehl and Mandeville, 1987). In the region of Tierra Blanca, Veracruz, it is believed they corresponded to the Late Classic (Von Winning and Stendahl: 171, 207, fig. 277). Braniff (1992:107-109, plate. 10h) illustrates what we think might be a wheel from these figures at Villa de Reyes, and we believe the same about some others coming from Sabina Grande, Hidalgo, whose relationship with Tula has already been noted. Diehl and Mandeville consider that the wheeled figurines were invented in Central Veracruz sometime after A.D. 600, but that the manufacture of most of them and their dispersion to Northern Veracruz, Central México and Southern Mesoamerica took place between A.D. 1000-1100 (Diehl and Mandeville, 1987:240, 243). However, these authors also mention this may have happened one or two centuries before, but evidences have not been found so far. "Should this historic reconstruction be correct, the dissemination of the concept of wheeled figurines may have been a part of a larger process of diffusion (that) involved the dispersion of architectural motifs from the Gulf Coast, iconographic elements, the ballgame and associated paraphernalia, and other elite ritual concepts to many different parts of Mesoamerica after A.D. 600 (Parsons, 1969; 1978; Sharp, 1978; 1981). The areas that suffered such influences include Central México, the Pacific Coast, the piedmont and highlands of Southern Mesoamerica, and Yucatán–and among them, only Yucatán has produced no evidences so far regarding wheeled figurines" (Diehl and Mandeville, 1987:243).

48. Another example that the links with the southern lands included other areas from Hidalgo, in addition to the Tula region, may be the use of the ’Maya blue’. In 1996, with the assistance of Professor Luis Torres, from UNAM’s Institute of Anthropological Research, samples of the pigment that decorated some ceramic pieces from the site of "Los Huemás", in the municipio of Nopala de Villagrán, were analyzed. After the tests of reflection, refraction, composition, texture, etc., were completed, it was found to be a coloring known as ’Maya blue’ (Solar, 1997:66-67). This pigment was first identified during the study of the Chichén Itzá mural paintings conducted by Merwin (1931) and baptized in 1942 by R. Gettens and G. Stout with the name of the cultural region where its generalized use was observed (1942:130; Gettens, 1961-62:557). Presently, we know that the distribution of the Maya blue is not restricted to the homonymous region, but in fact, that it follows a much wider pattern that includes several states from the Mexican Republic. However, the organic component that provides the blue coloring is a perennial plant known as indigófera, which grows in very restricted locations and climates, particularly in the southern area of the country and northern Central America (Grinberg, 1987). The differences in tonality depend on the type of clay used in the preparation, and in general, three different types have been identified (Navarrete and Valencia, 1988:50, 52). It is possible that this differentiation responds to regional patterns of pigment preparation, where the finished product was not necessarily imported, but instead, the plant and the manufacturing know-how (Solar, 1997:68-69). Unfortunately, our sample was recovered on the surface and therefore lacks any chronological value at this time.

49. Cobean says: "In some zones outside the Tula area, there are several types that may represent a transition between the Coyotlatelco and the Macana types. They are tripod hemispheric bowls that present the "wide red band", and that simultaneously feature painted designs of the Coyotlatelco type. García Payón (1941), Du Solier (1941) and Piña Chán (1975), have described these types for the Toluca Valley, especially in Calixtlahuaca and Teotenango." (Cobean, 1982:75).

50. We agree with Acosta that there are some vessels from Michoacán whose shape (differently than their decoration and possible function) is extraordinarily similar to the shape of some Macana type tripod bowls and mortars described by Cobean for the area of Tula, particularly regarding the supports "[…] with a wide tabular area at the base that occasionally makes the support in profile look like an abstract silhouette with a duck head" (Cobean, 1990:299, illus. 137). In addition, some examples from Macana present a resist decoration, in the same manner as some samples from Michoacán. Macana is a type which according to Cobean’s classification appeared, towards the Terminal Corral phase (A.D. 900-950) in lesser quantities, and generalized up to the beginning of the Tollán phase (A.D. 950-1150/1200), while it was also present in the Basin of México, Guanajuato, Veracruz and Xochicalco (ibid.:302). For one of the pieces recovered at Urichu in the interior of a sealed tomb containing a multiple burial, two C14 datings were obtained, which situate the context between the years A.D. 888 and 943 (Pollard, 1995, 41-43, 57, fig. 8b). If the comparison between these Michoacán and Toltec pieces is valid, it is interesting to note that in Michoacán their use was generalized slightly before Tula. Healan and Hernández also note a local Macana variant in the Ucareo Valley (1999:139).

51. For the Pre-Classic, Litvak notes the existence of figurines coming from Michoacán in the Xochicalco area (1972:56), which may have also arrived through this route or by way of the assumed connections with northern Guerrero.

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