Tzintzuntzan (Mesoamerican site)

This article is about the pre-Columbian Purépecha archaeological site in Mexico. For the modern-day municipality and township in Michoacán, see Tzintzuntzan, Michoacán. For other uses, see Tzintzuntzan (disambiguation).
View of the yácata pyramids from the south end

Tzintzuntzan was the ceremonial center of the pre-Columbian Purépecha capital of the same name. The name comes from the Purépecha word Ts’intsuntsani, which means "place of hummingbirds."[1][2] The site includes at least 1,000 archaeological features in an area that is at least 1,075 hectares.[3]

After being in Pátzcuaro for the first years of the Purépecha Empire, power was consolidated in Tzintzuntzan in the mid 15th century. The empire continued to grow and hold off attacks by the neighboring Aztec Empire, until the Spanish arrived. Not wanting to suffer the destruction that the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan did, the emperor in this city surrendered to the Spanish.[4] Eventually, much of the site and especially its distinct five rounded pyramids called yácatas were destroyed and the city almost completely abandoned.[5]

Due to lack of interest in the old Purépecha dominion, excavation of this site did not begin until the 1930s.[4] Its largest construction are the five yácata pyramids, which line up looking out over Lake Pátzcuaro. The other is the large Grand Platform excavated into the hillside on which the yácatas and other buildings rest.[1] Today the site is still used for events such as the Festival Cultural de Fin de Año.[6]

  1. ^ a b "Tzintzuntzan" (in Spanish). Mexico: INAH. Retrieved December 2, 2009.
  2. ^ Carrasco 2001, p. 279.
  3. ^ Staff, M. N. D. (2022-05-31). "LiDAR reveals new data on ancient Purépecha city in Michoacán's size". Mexico News Daily. Retrieved 2023-08-17.
  4. ^ a b Adkins, Julie. "Mesoamerican Anomaly? The Pre-Conquest Tarascan State". Dallas, TX: Southern Methodist University. Archived from the original on December 19, 2009. Retrieved December 2, 2009.
  5. ^ "Tzintzuntzan, "lugar de colibríes"" [Tzintzuntzan, place of hummingbirds] (in Spanish). Mexico: El oficio de historiar. Retrieved November 25, 2009.
  6. ^ Alba, Erick (2008-12-26). "Las Yácatas de Tzintzuntzan, sede del Festival Cultural de Fin de Año" [The yacatas of Tzintzuntzan, site of the Cultural Festival of the End of the Year]. La Jornada de Michoacán (in Spanish). Morelia, Mexico. Retrieved 2009-12-02.