- What was the Mixtec culture?
- Location of Mixtec culture
- Customs and traditions of the Mixtec culture
- Economy of Mixtec culture
- Politics of Mixtec culture
- Contributions of Mixtec culture
We explain what the Mixtec culture was, its customs, politics and economy. In addition, their contributions and what are their characteristics.
What was the Mixtec culture?
The Mixtec culture or Mixtec civilization was one of the oldest pre-Columbian cultures Mesoamerican, predecessor of the current Mexican Mixtec people. It flourished south of the current territory of Mexico. Its heyday ended in the 10th century, but the Mixtec people survived until their encounter with the Spanish conquerors in the 15th century.
The Mixtec culture shared many traits with its Zapotec neighbors, along with those who called themselves "people of the rain." However, each of these cultures it undertook its different path, as they were integrated into the complex web of pan-Mesoamerican relations of the time.
Its apogee was during the Mesoamerican Classic Period (200 AD to 900 AD). It was in some way linked to that of important urban centers such as Teotihuacán and Monte Albán.
Judging from the archaeological traces, its decline occurred due to a process of Balkanization of the area, that is, of disintegration into isolated and estranged cultures. This made them vulnerable to pressure from the Aztec empire first and after the Spanish conquerors.
Other cultures:
| Aztec culture | Toltec culture |
| Mayan culture | Greek culture |
| Olmec culture | Totonac culture |
| Zapotec culture | Teotihuacan culture |
Location of Mixtec culture
Mixtec culture occupied during its history the territory known as La Mixteca (Wildebeest Dzahui, in their language, "Country of the rain"), located in the south of Mexico, in the territory of the current states of Puebla, Oaxaca and Guerrero.
It is a region mountainous, which this culture occupied in two different zones: the low (northwest of Oaxaca and southwest of Puebla) and the high (northwest of Guerrero and west of Oaxaca).
Customs and traditions of the Mixtec culture
The Mixtecs shared many traits with other Mesoamerican cultures such as the Maya and the Mexica (Aztec), including many elements mythological and his cult of the solar divinity (Yya Ndicahndi or Taandoco).
However, the religion Mixtec was characterized by being animist, and his protective deity was Dzahui, personification of the rain, whose attributes in many ways resemble those of the Tláloc of the teotihuacanos and Toltecs. Another important deity was that of fire, Huehuetéotl, especially in the Lower Mixtec.
It is known that the Mixtecs venerated their gods with human and animal sacrifices. Their leaders religious had a hierarchical position within the society, which was otherwise fundamentally militaristic.
The Mixtecs even developed their own war strategies, their own weapons, and were tenacious warriors. This is evidenced in his ceramic art, much of which is still preserved in abundance, and his metallic statuettes, although metallurgy was a little and late developed activity in the region.
The language of this culture was Protomixtecano, from which the Mixtec languages still spoken in southern Mexico derive, with such a margin of diversification that the coastal and mountainous variants were practically different languages. The Mixtecs cultivated a pictographic writing, of which some codices are preserved.
Economy of Mixtec culture
Like most Mesoamerican peoples, the economy Mixtec was based mostly on the farming. Its most important crops were corn, beans, chili and squash, and products non-food items such as cotton and cocoa, in regions where the climate allowed it.
However, their culture constantly faced abrupt relief and the shortage of Water, typical of the region, for which they developed a system of terraced crops, called coo yuu.
They extracted caliche (calcium carbonate) from nearby mines, and consumed the meat of turkeys (wild turkey) and xoloitzcuintles (wild dog), abundant in the region and domesticated by various Mesoamerican peoples. They also raised cochineal, a parasitic species of the cactus, and practiced eventual fishing off the Pacific coast.
Along with other Mesoamerican peoples, the Mixtecs participated in the vast network of Commerce of the region, being important producers of metals, like magnetite.
Politics of Mixtec culture
The Mixtec organization was stately: generally they gave their military leaders the government of the civil and economic aspects as well. Some of the most important Mixtec kingdoms were those founded in the 10th century under the government of Eight Venado Jaguar Claw, a famous chieftain of the coast, who began an avid expansionist process.
Tututepec (Yacudzáa), Tilantongo (Ñuu Tnoo Huahi Adehui) and Ñuu Cohyo were some of the unified kingdoms under his command. This chief ruled them until his death.
Although they were sometimes allies and other times rivals, Mixtecs and Toltecs had to unite to resist the incursions of the Mexica Empire (also called Aztec), eventually losing important cities before the hosts of Mexico-Tenochtitlán.
For this reason, before the arrival of the Spanish conquerors, many Mixtec lords voluntarily submitted to the command of Spain in exchange for help against the ruthless Aztecs.
Contributions of Mixtec culture
Mixtec codices detail the genealogy of important families.The Mixtecs left behind important archaeological evidence, as well as a significant contribution to the current imagery of southern Mexico. Of all this, the following can be highlighted:
- Ceramic crafts. Decorated with multiple colors, Mixtec crafts were abundant and striking. Ritual vessels and other ceramic objects still survive, especially in the neighborhoods of Monte Negro and Puebla.
- Goldsmithing. Despite being little developed in the region, the Mixtecs cultivated goldsmithing, especially gold work, which they called "excrement of the gods", and which they handled in alloys, carved and hammered pieces.
- The day of the Dead. While this tradition famous Mexican culture does not have a single progenitor, it is thought that the Mixtecs could have contributed to its preservation, either as a habit own or as inheritance or contagion from other pre-Hispanic peoples of the region, among which there was much syncretism.
- Mixtec codices. Various codices of the literature Mixtec, which details the genealogies of the families more important, on a deerskin leather. This is perhaps one of the most important contributions of this culture to the Mesoamerican archaeological legacy.