The Central Highlands of Mexico It is the region between the Sierra Madre Oriental and the Sierra Madre Occidental. To the south it limits with the Transversal Volcanic Axis and the depression of the Balsas river. This region was the place where some of the great cultures of pre-Hispanic Mexico developed.
The high plateau of Mexico includes territories of the states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Durango, Zacatecas and San Luis de Potosí. Like Aguascalientes, Guanajuato, Querétaro, Arteaga, Hidalgo, Mexico, Tlaxcala, Puebla, Jalisco, Michoacán, Veracruz and Mexico City (Federal District).
It is a plateau in its greatest flat extension with an average altitude of 1,700 to 2,300 meters above sea level. The highest altitudes are reached to the north, in the Valley of Mexico and Toluca, exceeding 2,300 meters above sea level. While to the south, in the Chihuahuan desert, it decreases to around 1,000 meters above sea level..
For its part, the Central Plateau or Central Plateau of Mexico is the part of the Mexican plateau located towards the transversal volcanic axis. This Central Highlands includes the Morelos Valley to the south, the Puebla-Tlaxcala Valley to the east, the Mexico Basin to the center, and the Toluca Valley to the west..
Most of the cultures that dominated the Central Highlands, especially the Valley of Mexico or Anahuac, were Nahuas, that is, those of the Nahuatl language. The Nahuas developed their activities there from prehistoric times until the arrival of the Spanish.
At the time of the arrival of these conquerors, power in the region was exercised by the Triple Alliance since 1428. This included the cities of Tenochtitlan, Texcoco and Tacuba, although at the time of the conquest the first of these cities was the dominant one..
This alliance had taken power against the Tepaneca Empire, and its allies the Coatlichantlacas and Culhuacanos. These also formed a triple alliance between the cities of Culhuacan, Coatlichan and Azcapotzalco..
The Olmeca-Xicalancas established populations such as Tlatilco and Chalcatzingo, then in the Pre-Classic period, between 800 BC. and in 50 AD, they founded the city of Cuicuilco. This city arose earlier and was later contemporary with Teotihuacán. Survivors of the destruction of Cuicuilco by a volcanic eruption ended up in the latter city..
Later, the Olmecs re-emerged in the classical around the 7th and 10th centuries after the fall of Teotihuacán. Between the years 650-900, in the period known as Epiclassic, the city of Cacaxtla reached its peak with its impressive murals. As well as Xochitécatl, with its famous female figurines.
Although this culture developed mainly in the state of Oaxaca, it also had an impact on the Central Highlands. As evidenced in the Zapotec neighborhood discovered in the ruins of Teotihuacán.
This culture developed between the 1st centuries BC. and VII AD, and it is not known if its origin is Totonac, Nahua or Otomí. In any case, he founded the largest city on the Central Highlands, Teotihuacán, a complex city that established commercial and cultural relations with all of Central America, where they worked the obsidian with which they made all kinds of tools that they traded..
It was one of the great cities of the Central Highlands, although its founders are not specified. This city was contemporary with Teotihuacán and its urban layout is unique in this region, with countless interconnected streets, squares and houses.
Experts point out that the Cantona culture was characterized by denying everything that was fashionable in the other contemporary cities of the highlands.
They were warrior peoples, originally nomads, who inhabited the north of the highlands. They were made up of various groups such as Caxcanes, Guachichiles, Guamares, Pames and Chichimecas-Jonaces, Tepecanos, Tecuexes, Zacatecos and Otomíes. Around 950 AD, they invaded the Central Highlands to the south, taking many cities, including Xochicalco..
This culture of the early postclassic period, between the 10th and 12th centuries, came from the Chichimecas and their capital was the city of Tula. This city stands out among other things for its large stone sculptures known as the Atlanteans.
Already in the late postclassic, the rule of the Mexica culture begins, whose capital was Tenochtitlán, founded in 1325. Its writing was pictorial, giving rise to what are now called codices..
It was the dominant culture in the central highlands at the time of the arrival of the Spanish conquerors. They managed to establish their dominance thanks to their alliance with the Texcocanos and Tepanecas.
Also called acolhuas, its capital, Texcoco, inherited from the Toltecs, is called the cultural capital of pre-Hispanic Mexico. It was ruled by Acolmiztli-Nezahualcóyotl, the Poet King, in the mid-15th century.
Here the arts, science, architecture flourished and it was home to important amoxcalli (libraries of codices). This kingdom was part of the triple alliance that governed the territory of present-day Mexico upon the arrival of the Spanish..
They were a people of Chichimeca origin that occupied areas of the Valley of Mexico in the 11th century. They formed the Tepanec Empire, with its capital in Azcapotzalco, currently one of the municipalities of Mexico City. The city-state of Tlacopan was part of the Triple Alliance to overthrow the Tecopan lordship of Azcapotzalco.
Native people of the highlands of central Mexico since the eighth millennium BC, derived from the Chichimecas. In the 5th century they occupied the region of the Teuhacán valley (now Puebla). At the time of the Triple Alliance empire, the Otomi were the majority occupants of the domain of Azcapotzalco.
According to the catalog of the National Institute of Archeology and History there are 51 archaeological sites in the Central Highlands or Central Plateau. Here are some of the most important:
In this archaeological site there are the remains of an agricultural village that indicates the presence around 1200 BC. of settlements in present-day Mexico City.
The archaeological site of this ancient Olmec-Xicallanca city is located south of the state of Tlaxcala, in the municipality of Nativitas. The most outstanding thing is its impressive murals in magnificent state of conservation.
This site, located in the state of Puebla, uncovered one of the most impressive cities in the Central Highlands, especially because of its unusual urban layout and asymmetric architectural designs. In addition, the presence of 24 ball game fields stands out.
This archaeological zone is located in present-day Mexico City and corresponds to the pre-classic period (800 BC to 250 AD). It is one of the most important cities of Olmec influence in the Valley of Mexico in that period. Here are the remains of 8 of the religious buildings that it owned, as well as the hydraulic system that supplied the city with water..
The Huamango site corresponds to the Otomí culture, where two architectural ensembles are observed. One of them with a basement of 2 superimposed parts and a staircase, called EL Palacio. While the other, known as the Temple of the Warrior, consists of 3 superimposed bodies.
This archaeological site is located in the heart of present-day Mexico City and corresponds to the Mexica culture. Here are the vestiges of the Templo Mayor with the tzompantli altar and the House of the Eagles. As well as the circular relief of the goddess Coyolxauhqui and the Stone of the Sun or Aztec Calendar were located there..
This site is a World Heritage Site declared by UNESCO, given its historical and cultural richness. It is located in the state of Mexico, in the municipalities of Teotihuacán and San Martín de las Pirámides.
It was the largest city in ancient Mexico and still today houses complex monumental buildings, murals, housing complexes, roads and other structures. The Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon stand out, as well as the Calzada de los Muertos.
The archaeological zone of the Toltec city of Tollan-Xicocotitlan or Tula, is located in Tula de Allende in the state of Hidalgo. In this site you can see the famous Atlanteans with their beautiful engravings, as well as the Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli or Temple of the Morning Star.
Due to its semi-dry and temperate climate, the dominant vegetation types are grasslands, mesquite, and xerophilous scrub. Cactaceae abound here, agavaceae such as the lechuguilla (Lechuguilla agave), the ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens) and legumes, including mesquite (Prosopis spp.).
10,000 years ago in the Mexican central highlands humans hunted mammoths and because of this they became extinct. Later, at the time of the great pre-Hispanic cultural developments, the fauna of this region was very similar to the current one, only more abundant.
The jaguar (Panthera onca) was the largest predator and an animal revered by the cultures that inhabited there. Also the Central American tapir (Tapirus bairdii) is typical of this region and it is believed that it was even domesticated by the natives like the turkey or turkey (Meleagris gallopavo).
Likewise, the nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus) and the Mexican bulldog (Cynomys mexicanus). Like the gray foxUrocyon cinereoargenteus), the cacomixtle (Bassariscus astutus) and the rattlesnake (Crotalus spp.).
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