Acolhuacan

Not to be confused with Culhuacan.
The Aztec glyph for Acolhuacan, which depicts an arm with water emerging from the humerus.[1]

Acolhuacan or Aculhuacan (Nahuatl: ācōlhuahcān;[2] pronounced [aːkoːlˈwaʔkaːn]) was a pre-Columbian province in the east of the Valley of Mexico, inhabited by the Acolhua. Its capital was initially Coatlichan,[3] but this settlement was eventually eclipsed in importance by Texcoco (Tetzcoco).[4]

In some sources, the name "Acolhuacan" was also used to refer to a city within the larger Acolhuacan province (e.g., in the Codex Mendoza, folio 21v).[5] Frances Berdan and Patricia Rieff Anawalt argue that it was likely Texcoco, Acolman, or Coatlichan, with the latter two being "the most likely prospects."[1] Additional scholars largely agree that Acolhuacan was likely another name for Coatlichan.[6][7]

  1. ^ a b Berdan and Anawalt (1997): p. 38.
  2. ^ Karttunen (1983): p. 3.
  3. ^ Lee (2009): p. 90.
  4. ^ Johnson (2017): p. xiii.
  5. ^ Berdan and Anawalt (1997): p. 37.
  6. ^ Gibson (1964): p. 17.
  7. ^ Lee (2009): p. 78, 90.