Toltec civilization

Essay by peter martinsonCollege, UndergraduateB, December 1995

download word file, 15 pages 3.4

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this paper was to prove toltecs were civilized, but i went off in a couple of places she thought that, since the toltecs practiced human sacrifice, they are uncivilized. important for sensitive teachers

Toltec Civilization

The Priest stood atop the temple of the Sun, looking down on his people gathered

for this event. With one swift movement, he raised the sacrificial obsidian dagger and

plunged it into the young man's chest, tearing out his heart. He then placed the heart on

the waiting chac-mool, smiled, and anounced the beginning of celebration.

The Toltecs were one of the first 'Nahuatl' speaking cultures to colonize central

Mexico. It is unclear whether they came from the North or the South, but, popular theory

is that they came from the North (Southern America). The tribe first settled a small

distance west of what is now Mexico City. There, they built the largest city ever in

Mexico, even dwarfing today's Mexico City (von Hagen, Sun, pp.

20, 29)! The Toltecs

ruled over this town from 200 B.C to 900 A.D (Sabloff, p. 112). Then, something forced

them to leave; climate change, foreigners, a war, nobody knows.

The Toltecs then migrated about 50 miles North. There, they settled and began to

build the town called Tula (Gruzinski, p. 14). They resided there until 1100 A.D (Sabloff,

p. 112). In around 987 A.D or so, the Toltec priest- king Quezalcoatl (who was actually a

god. There are also records of a man named Topiltzin who apparently followed the same

course as Quetzalcoatl. It was unclear who was who, or if they were the same person.)

was forced to flee with a few of his followers (Gruzinski, p. 14). He fled to the Yucatan

peninsula, where the Mayas resided. He then proceeded to build a gigantic city called...