Castillo de Teayo, Veracruz

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The Castillo Temple

Teayo, Nahuatl for "Stone Turtle," stood at the threshold between the Aztec civilization, expanding from central Mexico, and the Huaxtec Maya of the central Gulf of Mexico coast. Its architecture is Aztec, but the art synthesizes Aztec religion with Huaxtec materials, symbols, and deities to produce a style that draws from both Aztec and Maya cultures in the late Postclassic period (1200-1521 AD). Ensconced in the lowlands between the Tuxpan and Cazones rivers of Veracruz, Teayo lay toward the southernmost frontier of the Huasteca region, not far north from the great city of Tajín. The modern city is named for the great temple or "castle" that stands in what is now the central city square. At right you can appreciate a unique architectural feature of this building, the inset steps. Here I also present one of my favorite images in the whole Maya Art site: sunrise behind the temple.

Castillo de Teayo


The Stone of Corn

This enormous monolith was found only meters away from a corner of the Teayo temple. The two figures are of the rain god Tlaloc, at left, and his counterpart, the water goddess Chalchihuitl Icue, at right. As the two deities face each other, each holds a full maize stalk toward the center space. Huaxtec accoutrements upon the goddess include the crescent-shaped nosepiece and the triangular quechquemitl worn across the shoulders. This is one of the largest works of stone relief from the Huasteca region.

Xalapa Museum of Anthropology


Quetzalcoatl-Ehecatl

While not as grandiose as other Teayo reliefs of the wind god, this short stele shows enough features to identify the god nonetheless. The shell necklace is a Huaxtec design, as are the hooked shell earrings that are not only Huaxtec but also help to identify the wind god or his spiritual counterpart. An unusual characteristic of this relief that also appears on other Teayo pieces is the abnormal orientation of the hands. The figure's right hand holds a short scepter, but the fingers are curled the wrong way. It is very likely that the sculptor was looking at his own hand as a model!

Castillo de Teayo


Macuilxochitl

Macuilxochitl, Nahuatl for "Five Flower," is identified from the row of notches upon his head. This god was widely known among the Aztecs as a god of festival and gambling, but this god is more closely associated with the maize life cycle among some of the present-day Aztecs of north Veracruz. Macuilxochitl and a related deity, Chicomexochitl or "Seven Flower," are both named from distinct combinations of number and day-sign from the sacred 260-day Mesoamerican calendar, and the names of these two deities appear to be the only recollection of that mythical calendar in the modern Huasteca.

Castillo de Teayo


Skull Rim on Bowl

Small polychrome ceramics were abundant at Teayo, many of them shaped like small humans or animals that could be used in domestic ritual. This ceramic fragment has geometric designs in its lower register, and on its rim are two rows of human skulls, those in the lower row larger than in the upper.

Castillo de Teayo


Teem-Tlahzolteotl

The Aztecs were aware of the foreign import of several of their major deities, and this was certainly the case with the fertility goddess Tlahzolteotl, the "Refuse Goddess." Her historical origin from the Huasteca became translated into mythological homeland, in order to explain how the Huasteca lowlands could be so warm and verdant through most of the year. The Aztecs therefore hoped that, by offering cult and worship to this foreign goddess, they could themselves partake of the abundance she provided. This small sculpture depicts an abstracted form of the fertility goddess, known among the Huaxtec Maya and their modern Teenek descendants as Teem.

Castillo de Teayo


Chicomecoatl

As the Aztecs adopted the Huaxtec Teem for their own cult, they ceremonially recreated the vestiture of the goddess and her priesthood, particularly for the annual festival of Ochpaniztli, the "Road Sweeping." The bundled headdress and circular spools used in the ceremony correspond to those on this tall sculpture of the agricultural goddess Chicomecoatl, "Seven Serpent," another deity named from the sacred calendar.

Castillo de Teayo


The Conquest Stele

A local favorite at the town of Castillo de Teayo. This tall stele displays three day-signs from the sacred calendar to commemorate a historic date, most likely the one of the Aztec conquest and consequential settlement of the Teayo area. The dates appear around the stele, beginning with the day 1 Caiman, shown in the left image. The image at right shows a side date marked by 1 Flint Blade, and upon the reverse side is the day 13 Flower.

Castillo de Teayo