- What was the Totonac culture?
- Location of the Totonac culture
- Characteristics of the Totonac culture
- Religion of the Totonac culture
- Contributions of the Totonac culture
We explain what the Totonac culture of Mesoamerica was and what its contributions were. Also, its location and other characteristics.
What was the Totonac culture?
The Totonac culture developed during the classical (from 300 to 950 AD) and postclassic (from 950 to 1520 AD) cultural periods. It was adopted by indigenous peoples Mesoamerican who lived in Mexico, in the territory that today make up the states of Veracruz and part of Puebla.
His name is the plural of "totonacatl" and refers to "the inhabitants of the region of Totonacapan ”. Some authors have interpreted the word "Totonac" as "man from the hot land."
The Totonac empire turned out to be a peaceful culture that did not resort to violence, but they solved the conflicts through peaceful and diplomatic channels. He stood out for his artistic expressions, applied in the architecture from the pre-Columbian cities of Papantla, Cempoala and El Tajín.The three formed a metropolis association known as "the three hearts."
The Totonac communities fell into the dominion of the aztecs who, years later, were displaced by the Spanish (who arrived on the American continent in the 16th century).
Other cultures:
| Teotihuacan culture | Mayan culture |
| Aztec culture | Greek culture |
| Olmec culture | Zapotec culture |
| Toltec culture | Mixtec culture |
Location of the Totonac culture
The Totonac culture developed in the coastal region of the state of Veracruz and in the Sierra de Puebla, through an imposing urban display called "the three hearts", which was made up of three cities:
- El Tajín. It was the capital city of the Totonac culture and encompassed the region between the Cazones and Tecolutla rivers. Its main architectural works were the Group of the Stream, the Pyramid of the Niches, the Blue Temple and the ball game courts, north and south.
- Papantla. It spread around El Tajín. Its name means "the city of noisy birds." It stands out for the architectural works of the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption, the monument to the Flying One and the Cristo Rey chapel.
- Cempoala. It spread into the coastal plain near the Gulf of Mexico and the Actopan River. It had numerous irrigation channels that supplied the fields destined for the farming. Among his architectural works are the temples: the Sun, the Mayor, the Chimeneas and the Cross, as well as the Moctezuma palace.
Characteristics of the Totonac culture
The Pyramid of the Niches works as an “astronomical calendar”.
The Totonac culture was made up of two socio-political classes:
- The nobles. They were in charge of controlling the economy and the religion. This group was made up of the chief (who ruled), the priests (who directed the ceremonial worship of the gods, had astronomical knowledge and directed human sacrifices) and the wealthiest, possessors of land.
- The commoners. They were engaged in agricultural, artisanal, fishing and masonry production, in addition to providing services as servants in the noble lands and in the temples. This group was made up of the majority of the population.
The economy of the Totonac culture was based on agriculture (they planted chili, tomato, corn, cocoa and cotton), on commerce (which allowed the development of cities to be able to sell products) and on the barter of products and services .
The magnitude of the economic power achieved by the Totonac culture was evidenced through the buildings of pyramids, monuments, houses and palaces, carefully decorated.
The art of the Totonac culture manifested itself in ceramics, crafts and sculpture (which was characterized by the use of smiling faces). They also developed an outstanding architecture for their facades with carved reliefs.
The Totonac culture acquired important knowledge about astronomy, which had an influence on the construction of monuments, as in the case of the orientation of the Pyramid of the Niches, which functions as an “astronomical calendar”.
Religion of the Totonac culture
The religion of the Totonac culture had some opposing aspects compared to the rest of the Mesoamerican civilizations, such as the sense matriarchal (that is, the woman was the one who transmitted the rights of the inheritance).
They had the conviction that the goddesses were the ones who created the soul of the people and considered Centéotl as the goddess of corn while, for other civilizations, she was the god of corn. They were also polytheists and worshiped their gods in the same way that the others did. cultures, like the god Tláloc, Quetzalcóatl, Xipototex and Xochipilli.
The ball game courts, in addition to functioning as sports fields, were spaces for religious rituals, where the winner of the matches was sacrificed in honor of the gods.
Contributions of the Totonac culture
The main contribution of the Totonac culture has to do with the vanilla plant, despite the fact that some researchers doubt its real origin.
It was widely used in the Totonacapan region for various uses, the medicinal being one of the most important because it acted as an antiseptic or disinfectant. Nowadays it is an essential spice to give flavor and aroma to desserts and sweet dishes.
Another significant contribution is the language. Purépecha and Totonac are the only two languages that Mexico considers to be native to its land.
They had twenty-five ways to enumerate things since for their denomination they used a prefix that was conditioned by the type of thing to be enumerated (an elongated object, an animal, a person, etc). In the 21st century, the Totonac language has been used by the United States for military purposes due to its complexity and difficult translation.