Anáhuac—Monuments of Puebla—Chila, Teopantepec, Tepexe, Tepeaca, San Antonio, Quauhquelchula, and Santa Catalina—Pyramid of Cholula—Sierra de Malinche—San Pablo—Natividad—Monuments of Tlascala—Los Reyes—Monuments of Mexico—Cuernavaca, Xochicalco, Casasano, Ozumba, Tlachialco, Ahuehuepa, and Mecamecan—Xochimilco, Tlahuac, Xico, Misquique, Tlalmanalco, and Culhuacan—Chapultepec, Remedios, Tacuba, and Malinalco—City of Mexico—Tezcuco—Tezcocingo—Teotihuacan—Obsidian Mines—Tula—Monuments of Querétaro—Pueblito, Canoas, and Ranas—Nahua Monuments.
The monuments of the Mexican tierra templada, of Anáhuac and the adjoining plateaux, next claim our attention. The territory in question is bounded on the south and east by that treated in the two preceding chapters—Oajaca and Guerrero on the south toward the Pacific, and Vera Cruz on the east toward the gulf. The present chapter will carry my antiquarian survey to a line drawn across the continent from Tampico to the mouth of the Zacatula river, completing what has been regarded as the home of the Nahua civilized nations, with the exception of the Tarascos in Michoacan, and leaving only a few scattered monuments to be described in the broad extent of the northern states of the republic. On most of the maps extant the territory whose monuments I have now to describe, is divided into the states of Mexico, Puebla, Tlascala, and Querétaro, to which have been added in later years Morelos and Hidalgo, formed chiefly, I believe, from the old state of Mexico. In my description, however, I shall pay but little attention to state lines, locating each group of antiquities by its distance and bearing from some well-known point. Respecting the physical features of this central Nahua region, enough has been said in the preceding volumes; I consequently begin at once the description of antiquarian relics, dealing first with those found in Puebla and Tlascala, starting in the south and proceeding northward.
Section of Chila Tomb.
REMAINS AT CHILA.
At Chila, in the extreme southern part of Puebla, is a hill known as La Tortuga, on which is built an unterraced pyramid eighty-eight feet square at the base, fifty-five feet high, with a summit platform fifty feet square. It is built of hewn stone and covered, as it appears from Castañeda's drawing, with cement. The exterior surface is much broken up by the trees that have taken root there. A stairway leads up the western front. Near the north-eastern corner of the mound is an entrance leading down by seven stone steps to a small tomb about eleven feet below the surface of the ground and not under the mound. At the foot of the steps is an apartment measuring five and a half feet long and high, and four feet wide, with a branch, or gallery, four feet long and a little less than three feet wide and high, in the centre of each of the three sides, thus giving the whole tomb in its ground plan the form of a cross. Its vertical section is shown in the cut. There is certainly a general resemblance to be noted in this tomb-structure to those at Mitla; the interior is lined with hewn blocks laid in lime mortar and covered with a fine white plaster, the plaster on the ceiling being eight or nine inches thick. The discovery of human bones in the lateral galleries leaves no doubt respecting the use to which the subterranean structure was devoted.[IX-1]
At Tehuacan el Viejo, two leagues eastward of the modern town of Tehuacan, in the south-eastern part of the state, were found ruins of stone structures not particularly described.[IX-2] At San Cristóval Teopantepec, a little native settlement north-westward of the remains last mentioned, is another hill which bears a pyramid on its top. A road cut in the rocky sides leads up the hill, and on the summit, beside the pyramid, traces of smooth cement pavements and other undescribed remains were noticed. The pyramid itself from a base fifty feet square rises about sixty-seven feet in four receding stories with sides apparently sloping very slightly inward toward the top, the fourth story being moreover for the most part in ruins. The most remarkable feature of this structure is its stairway, which is different from any yet noticed, and similar to that of the grand teocalli of Mexico-Tenochtitlan as reported by the conquerors. It leads up diagonally from bottom to top of each story on the west, not, however, making it necessary to pass four times round the pyramid in order to reach the summit, as was the case in Mexico, since in this ruin the head of each flight corresponds with the foot of the one above, instead of being on the opposite side of the pyramid. The whole is built of stone and mortar, only the exterior facing being of regular blocks, and no covering of cement is indicated in Castañeda's drawing.[IX-3]
TEPEXE AND TEPEACA.
At Tepexe el Viejo, on the Zacatula River, some sixteen leagues south-east of the city of Puebla, Dupaix discovered, in 1808, a structure which he calls a fortification. It was located on a rocky height, surrounded by deep ravines, and the rough nature of the ground, together with the serpents that infest the rocks, prevented him from making exact measurements. There are traces of exterior enclosing walls, and within the enclosed area stands a pyramid of hewn stone and lime mortar, in eight receding stories. A fragment of a circular stone was also found at Tepexe, bearing sculptured figures in low relief, which indicate that the monument may have borne originally some resemblance to the Aztec calendar-stone, to be mentioned hereafter. Another round stone bore marks of having been used for sharpening weapons.[IX-4]