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Cempoala or Zempoala (Nahuatl Cēmpoalātl 'Place of Twenty Waters') is an important Mesoamerican archaeological site located in the municipality of Úrsulo Galván in the Mexican state of Veracruz. The site was inhabited mainly by . However, Agustín García Márquez has proposed Cempoala as a Nahua altepetl, with a particular influence from Olmeca-Xicalanca migrating from Cholula.Márquez, Agustín García. Agustín García Márquez: Cempoala, Un Altépetl Náhuatl Del Posclásico Veracruzano. Seminario De Cultura Mexicana, México, 2017. It was one of the most important Totonac settlements during the postclassical Mesoamerican period and the capital of the kingdom of Totonacapan. It is located one kilometer from the shore of the Actopan River and six kilometres from the coast.
Cempoala was the first urban settlement the Spaniards saw upon arrival on the American continent.Brüggemann, Jürgen K. "Cempoala." In David Carrasco (ed). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Mesoamerican Cultures. : Oxford University Press, 2001.
According to some sources, the city was founded at least 1,500 years before the Spanish arrival, and there is evidence of Olmec influence. Although not much is known about the Preclassical and Classic Era, the Preclassical town was built on mounds to protect it from floods. The Totonacs moved into the area during the Toltec Empire peak, having been forced out of their settlements on the eastern slopes of the Sierra Madre Oriental. The Totonacs ruled the area of Totonacapan which consisted of the northern part of Veracruz together with the Zacatlán district of Puebla with a total population of approximately 250,000 and some 50 towns. At its peak, Cempoala had a population of between 25,000 and 30,000.
The Totonacs moved onto this coastal plain during the height of the Toltec Empire (A.D. 1000–1150). Archaeologists believe the Toltecs had pushed the Totonacs out of their settlements on the eastern slopes of the Sierra Madre Oriental and down to the coast. Here, on 27 May 1520, a battle was fought between the forces of Pánfilo de Narváez and the forces of Hernán Cortés, the latter which were supported by a small number of indigenous soldiers. See: Battle of Cempoala.
Cempoala lies on the flat coastal plain about six kilometers from the Gulf and a little more than a kilometer from the banks of the Rio Actopan (also called the Rio Chachalacas).
When the Spaniards, led by Hernán Cortés, arrived in 1519 the Totonacs had been suffering Aztec domination for several years.
The Spaniards heard of a town on the way named Zempoala while at their malaria-ridden camp of San Juan de Ulua. They marched over and sent word of their arrival, and upon their arrival were met by 20 Zempoalan dignitaries.
In town, they met with "Fat Chief" Xicomecoatl, who fed them and gave them quarters. The Totonac presented Cortés with numerous gifts, including gold jewelry.
Xicomecoatl made many complaints against the Aztec Empire and the great Montezuma.
Cortés promised alleviate his concerns. At Quiahuiztlan, the Spaniards and Totonacs forged their alliance against the Aztecs.
Spaniards and Totonacs shared the same goal. In August 1519, Cortés and 40 Totonac captains, which by a lower estimate equates to around 8000 soldiers, and 400 porters left for Tenochtitlan. The effort ended with the fall of Tenochtitlan and Moctezuma II, the Aztec Tlatoani, as hostage.
As the political-religious center of the city, it included the "Place of accounts", as it was referred by the Mexica rulers, because it was where taxes and tributes from the region were collected.
Structures with often overlooked historic importance are in the part of the site now known as walled system IV. It was here that Cortés successfully faced the forces of Pánfilo de Narváez, thus consolidating his leadership in the colonization of the Mexican territory.
It consists of two overlaid basements with top side elements, an open room, two decorative belts, the lower has murals depicting the sun, Moon and Venus, as early morning star, the higher section has a large amount of clay “little faces” or little skulls. The Structure is decorated with stucco faces on the walls and hieroglyphs painted in lower sections Gran Pirámide and the wind god Ehécatl worship altar.
Beneath the massive pyramid (north eastern corner) in the central plaza of Zempoala, are three puzzling stone rings, each made from rounded beach cobbles jointed together to make small, stepped pillars. The largest rings has 40 stepped pillars, the middle ring has 28, and the smaller ring 13, around its circumference. It seems that three rings were used to calibrate different astronomical cycles, possibly by placing a marker or an idol from one pillar to the next, day after day.
The stone rings viewed from the top of the main pyramid, are surmounted by 13, 28, and 40 step like pillars, might have been counting devices to keep track of eclipse cycles, by Totonac priests.
It is possible that by using the rings, Totonacs priests were able to calibrate movements of the moon. There are reasons to believe these rings provide further evidence of the intellectual curiosity and architectural ingenuity of the early Mesoamericans."
Between 1575 and 1577 a smallpox (matlazahuatl) epidemic decimated the population, it is estimated that two million people lost their lives in Mesoamerica. The city was totally abandoned, and the few survivors moved to the city of Xalapa. The city was then lost to history until archeologist Francisco del Paso and Troncoso rediscovered it.
After the victory and conquest, the Cempoala Totonacs soon took their new destiny next to their foreign partners: were re-located and had to leave the city as they were Christianized, banned from practicing their ancient cults and were turned into slaves to work new Spanish sugar cane fields.
Cortés first arrived at Zempoala in 1519 with 500 conquistadores who then made a long trip up into the highlands using the same routes used to haul maize to Tenochtitlan. His was aided by the lord of Cempoala, known by his extraordinary corpulence as the "fat Cacique". The town was settled around walled perimeters delimiting temples and palaces; dating back to the 11th to 16th centuries.
Further reading
Archaeology of Native North America, 2010, Dean R. Snow, Prentice-Hall, New York. pp. 188
External links
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> Article on the Cempoala site
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