The Assimilation of Mexican Mythical-Ritual Discourses in Tetzapotitlan. The Case of the Political and Religious Ideological Propaganda of the Triple Alliance in Castillo de Teayo

Abstract

The province of Tetzapotitlan, an archaeological site corresponding to the current town of Castillo de Teayo, in the North of Veracruz, has a large number of archaeological monuments that allow an in-depth knowledge of the public political and religious dynamics of its pre-Hispanic populations. However, a large number of Tetzapotecan sculptures reflect part of the ideology of other societies, especially the Altiplano, which has required a variety of studies (Márquez, 2009, 2012a, 2012b, 2013, 2014, 2015a, 2015b, 2015c, 2017 , 2019, 2020, 2021a, 2021b) that have allowed us to delve into the complex phenomenon that this town went through between the years 1444 and 1521, during which a large number of wars occurred by the Triple Alliance of Mexico, Texcoco and Tlacopan. These military actions caused the definitive subjection of Tetzapotitlan in 1480, but also the depopulation, enslavement and slaughter of native men of the locality in Mexico Tenochtitlan in 1487. As of this year, the official tetzapotec speeches were profoundly modified, due to the presence of a new population with an apparently different cultural background, as observed in the sculptural representations, but in essence similar, hence their cult has been assimilated (in honor of the earth, rain and corn). The political and religious power expressed propagandistically in the celebrations and festivities led the Tetzapoteca to accept these cultural changes, and that explains, in turn, the reason for the existence of such sculptures.