Mixtec culture
The mixtec culture It was a warlike tribe that took over the Valley of Mexico before Aztec rule and the arrival of the Spanish.
The mixtec civilization In pre-Columbian times, the Mixtecs were one of the major civilizations in Mesoamerica.
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Important ancient Mixtec centers include the ancient capital of Tilantongo, as well as the sites of Achiutla, Cuilapan, Huajuapan, Mitla, Tlaxiaco, Tututepec, Juxtlahuaca, and Yucu-udahui.
He mixtec term It comes from the Nahuatl word Mixtecapan, or «place of the people of the clouds» or «people of the rain».
the great valley
The Valley of Mexico was a large area of central Mexico that had many indigenous civilizations. They fought for domination among themselves, and in the 12th century, the area was full of tribes such as the Toltecs and the Zapotecs.
In pre-Columbian times, the Mixtecs were one of the major civilizations in Mesoamerica.
Important ancient Mixtec centers include the ancient capital of Tilantongo, as well as the sites of Achiutla, Cuilapan, Huajuapan, Mitla, Tlaxiaco, Tututepec, Juxtlahuaca, and Yucu-udahui.
buildings
The Mixtecs also made important constructions in the ancient city of Monte Albán (which had originated as a Zapotec city before the Mixtecs took control of it).
The work of Mixtec artisans producing stone, wood, and metal work was highly prized throughout ancient Mesoamerica.
At the height of the Aztec Empire, many Mixtecs paid tribute to the Aztecs, but not all Mixtec peoples became vassals.
They resisted Spanish rule until they were subdued by the Spanish and their central Mexican allies, led by Pedro de Alvarado.
Today, the Mixtecs have migrated to various parts of Mexico and the United States. In recent years a large exodus of indigenous peoples from Oaxaca, such as the Zapotec and Triqui, have emerged as one of the largest groups of Amerindians in the United States.
Large Mixtec communities exist in the border cities of Tijuana, Baja California, San Diego, California, and Tucson, Arizona.
However, there was another unique group called the Mixtec civilization that moved into the Valley of Mexico in the 12th century and ruled an area called Oaxaca until the Aztecs conquered them in the mid-15th century.
The many Mixtec clans spoke different Otomanguean languages, but regardless of the clan, their name «Mixtec» had the same meaning: Rain People.
Culture and art of the Mixteca
Although the Mixtecs took over the Valley of Oaxaca, their time as hegemonic leaders was relatively short when it came to empires. Its vibrant culture and religion were nuanced, but similar to others in the area.
The Mixtec language was similar to the Zapotec language, but the Mixtec writing system was not related.
Instead of using text or letters, they used glyphs (symbols and images) to denote language. They also used illustrations that symbolized important events such as wars, deaths of important figures, and the crowning of new leaders.
They were also very skilled in making various forms of art such as jewelry and were excellent metalworkers. Originally from the Valley of Mexico, there were deposits of gold and turquoise that the Mixtecs used to form and make necklaces and pendants.
Rain Town
The Mixtecs are the third largest group of Native Mexican peoples. They call themselves the Ñuuu Savi, «Rain Town».
His homeland is the Mixteca, a region that occupies the western half of the Mexican state of Oaxaca and small parts of Guerrero and Puelba, states on Oaxaca’s northern and western borders. The Oaxacan Mixteca is home to about two-thirds of all Mixtecs.
According to the best estimates, in 1999 there were around 500,000 Mixtecs residing in Mexico. The history of the Mixtecs is a history of movement.
Mixtec Society
In pre-Columbian times, the Mixtec region was densely populated. It is estimated that in 1522, when the Spanish conquistador Pedro de Alvarado, a soldier in the army of Hernán Cortés, traveled through the Mixteca, the population exceeded one million.
This highly populated area was politically organized into independent polities or kingdoms, each ruled by a powerful king.
The king was the supreme governor and leader of the army, assisted by a group of noble officers and advisers. The majority of the population, however, consisted of farmers, artisans, merchants, serfs, and slaves.
Mixtec artisans are famous for their mastery as blacksmiths, potters, goldsmiths, and precious stone carvers.
A codex (plural codices) is a pre-Columbian screen-printed book usually written on bark paper or deerskin.
Most of the few pre-Columbian codices that survived the Spanish conquest come from the Mixtec region.
Some famous codices from this region are the Codex Bodley, the Zouche-Nuttall and the Codex Vindobonensis (Codex Vienna). The first two are of historical content, while the last one records Mixtec beliefs about the origin of the universe, its gods, and its mythology.
Mixtec Political Organization
Mixtec society was organized into kingdoms or city-states ruled by the king that collected tributes and services from the people with the help of their administrators who were part of the nobility.
This political system reached its height during the early Postclassic period (800-1200 AD). These kingdoms were interconnected with each other through alliances and marriages, but they were also involved in wars with each other and against common enemies.
Two of the most powerful kingdoms of this period were Tututepec on the coast and Tilantongo in the Mixteca Alta.
The most famous Mixtec king was Lord Eight Deer «Jaguar Claw», ruler of Tilantongo, whose heroic deeds are part history, part legend.
According to Mixtec history, in the 11th century he managed to unite the kingdoms of Tilantongo and Tututepec under his power. The events that led to the unification of the Mixtec region under the name of Lord Eight Deer «Jaguar Claw» are recorded in two of the most famous Mixtec codices: Codex Bodley and Codex Zouche-Nuttall.
Mixtec Sites and Capitals
The first Mixtec centers were small villages located near productive agricultural land.
The construction during the Classic Period (AD 300-600) of sites such as Yucuñudahui, Cerro de Las Minas and Monte Negro in defensible positions within the high hills has been explained by some archaeologists as a period of conflict between these centers.
About a century after Lord Eight Deer’s Jaguar Claw united Tilantongo and Tututepec, the Mixtecs expanded their power into the Valley of Oaxaca, a region historically occupied by the Zapotec people.
Alfonso Case
In 1932, the Mexican archaeologist Alfonso Caso discovered at the site of Monte Albán, the ancient capital of the Zapotecs, a tomb of Mixtec nobles from the 14th and 15th centuries.
This famous tomb (Tomb 7) contained an astonishing offering of gold and silver jewelry, elaborately decorated vessels, corals, turquoise-trimmed skulls, and carved jaguar bones. This offering is an example of the skill of Mixtec artisans.
At the end of the pre-Hispanic period, the Mixtec region was conquered by the Aztecs. The region became part of the Aztec empire and the Mixtecs had to pay homage to the Aztec emperor with gold and silver work, precious stones, and the turquoise decorations for which they were so famous.
Centuries later, some of these works of art were found by archaeologists excavating in the Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlán, the capital of the Aztecs.
Language
The symbolism and iconography of the writing systems found throughout the ancient world are fascinating, but no more so than those that evolved in ancient Mesoamerica.
Developing independently of Mediterranean or Asian cultures, there are various types of pre-conquest writing that represent a unique intellectual achievement in this part of the new world.
The Mixtecs were one of the most influential ethnic groups to emerge in Mesoamerica during the Postclassic.
Never a united nation, the Mixtecs waged war and forged alliances with each other and with other peoples in their vicinity. They also produced beautiful manuscripts and large metal works, and influenced the international artistic style used from central Mexico to the Yucatán.
Classical period
During the Classic period, the Mixtecs lived in settlements on top of the hills of northwestern Oaxaca, a fact reflected in their name in their own language, «uudzahui,» meaning «People of the Rain.»
Later, during the Postclassic, the Mixtecs slowly moved into adjacent valleys and then into the greater Valley of Oaxaca. This time of expansion is undoubtedly recorded in a large number of deerskin manuscripts, of which only eight have survived.
However, these manuscripts allow us to trace Mixtec history from 1550 to 940 AD, deeper in time than any other Mesoamerican culture except the Maya.
Mixtec «writing» is really an amalgamation of written signs and images.
In particular, the pictorial scenes would represent historical events such as birth, marriage, coronation, war, and death, while the written glyphs would record the date of the event and identify the people and places involved.
Calendar
Like other Mesoamerican cultures, the Mixtecs used a sacred 260-day calendar. A day is a combination of a number, called a coefficient, and a day sign. The coefficient ranges from 1 to 13, while the day sign is any of the following 20 glyphs.
Unlike the Western system of months and days, the Mesoamerican sacred calendar moves the coefficient AND the day sign in parallel.
You start with 1 Crocodile, then advance both the number and sign of the day, moving on to 2 Wind the next day.
Continue until you end up with 13 Reed, then rewind the numbers but continue with the day sign, resulting in 1 Jaguar.
Another interesting note is that the Mixtecs did not use the bar to represent the quantity 5 in the manuscripts, but used five dots. However, in the monumental inscriptions, they did use the bar notation instead of five dots (see below).
The Mixtecs also had a 365-day solar calendar, but they did not record dates on this calendar.
The Sun Calendar
Instead, they intertwined the solar calendar and the sacred calendars in the Calendar Round, a 52-year cycle commonly used in Mesoamerica.
Historical events in Mixtec manuscripts and monuments are dated by a year in the Calendar Round and a day in the sacred calendar.
Like the holy days of the calendar, the years in the Calendar Round are also made up of a number and a year sign.
The number ranges from 1 to 13, and there are signs of 4 years…