Mixtecs: characteristics of this pre-Columbian culture

Summary of the characteristics of the Mixtecs, one of the most important Mesoamerican cultures.

The Mixtecs have been known as one of the main rivals of the Aztecs, although sooner or later they ended up being subdued by their empire.

This culture was one of the most developed and prosperous in Mesoamerica along with the Zapotecs, establishing a wide trade network, developing sophisticated art and organizing themselves politically in small kingdoms and independent cities.

Below we will discover who the Mixtecs were, what they believed in, what they were like, and what they were like.What they believed in, what their political system was like and what their economy was based on.

Who were the Mixtecs?

The Mixtecs were one of the most prosperous cultures of Mesoamerica. Their period of splendor coincides with the classic Mesoamerican period, going from around 200 A.D. to 900 A.D., although after the 10th century they endured quite well until, around 1400, the Aztecs put an end to their independence.Although after the 10th century they endured quite well until, around 1400, the Aztecs put an end to their independence. The pre-Hispanic Mixtecs settled in the current states of Oaxaca, Puebla and Guerrero.

They were neighbors with other Mesoamerican cultures, especially with the Zapotec with whom they shared many cultural traits. Their language and Zapotec were very similar, besides sharing with this culture the fact of being one of the few Mesoamerican cultures that had a writing system, written using hieroglyphics. They also worked metals in a very similar way and, curiously, they called themselves the same as the Zapotec: "the people of the clouds" or "the people of the rain".

Today this culture continues to exist, embodied by the descendants of the Zapotecs.Today this culture continues to exist, incarnated by the descendants of the original Mixtecs. Today's Mixtecs still live in the same region as their ancestors and speak languages derived from the same language spoken by their ancestors, in addition to Spanish. They continue to keep alive many pre-Hispanic traditions, although mixed with western influences and adapted to the Catholic creed imposed during the Spanish conquest.

The pre-Hispanic Mixtecs were closely related to large urban centers.. They are credited with having made Teotihuacan the great and important archaeological site we know today, as well as having inhabited Monte Alban, originally Zapotec territory.

But in spite of having had many centuries of cultural and economic splendor, they ended up declining when their nation became balkanized, creating small independent states at odds with each other. This would be taken advantage of by the Aztecs, since the Mixtecs became politically very weak around the 15th century and, with the arrival of the Spanish, the conquistadors would take advantage of the ethnic and political tensions to speed up the conquest of the New World, with the arrival of the Spaniards, the conquistadors would take advantage of the ethnic and political tensions to speed up the conquest of the New World..

Where did the members of this culture live?

According to archeological findings, the pre-Hispanic Mixtecs settled in the present-day states of Puebla the current states of Puebla, Oaxaca and Guerrero..

Their area of influence has been called La Mixteca, which in their language is Ñuu Dzahui or "the land of rain". It is a mountainous region that is divided into two regions: low Mixteca (northwest of Oaxaca and southwest of Puebla) and high Mixteca (northwest of Guerrero and west of Oaxaca).

Mixtec customs and traditions

As we mentioned, the Mixtecs shared many traits with their neighbors the Zapotecs, as well as with the Maya and Aztecs. Their traditions and mythology was very similar to that of other Mesoamerican peoples, particularly centered on the solar divinity Yya Ndicahndíí or Taandoco..

It is believed that the ritual of the Day of the Dead, if not a Mixtec heritage, at least the way they celebrated it had a great influence on the people of present-day Mexico.

The Mixtec religion was animistic and polytheistic, as was the case in most Mesoamerican religions. As a protector deity, they had Dzahui, who personified rain. This deity is very similar to the god Tlaloc, present in the Teotihuacan and Toltec pantheon. Along with this one, we also find the fire god Huehuetéotl, very venerated in the Lower Mixtec.

To satisfy the gods, the Mixtecs performed human and animal sacrifices.They staged in their temples built in caves or summits, the main one being Apoala. The priests had a great importance in the social structure, acting as supreme religious leaders. Their rituals sometimes did not involve killing anyone, but they did extract Blood and body parts, such as human ears and tongues, to show their loyalty and veneration to the gods, throwing the limbs into ceremonial baskets.

But not everything was bloody rituals and amputations. They also celebrated ceremonies with ceremonial ceremonies and games, among which could not miss the most famous Mesoamerican distraction: the ball game.

Witnessing one of these games was not like watching a soccer match, but something much more transcendental. This game represented the eternal struggle between the powers of the universe.. The playing field represented the sky and the ball the sun, making each game an event charged with religiosity and symbolism.

Language and writing

The pre-Hispanic Mixtecs spoke the Proto-Mixtecan language, the name proposed for the language from which most of the languages spoken by today's Mixtecs originate. This ancestral language managed to survive the Aztec and Spanish domination, evolving and diversifying into more than 80 different into more than 80 different modalities. The language has evolved so much that its variants are very different, making its speakers unable to understand each other and resorting to Spanish as a lingua franca.

Although not much is known about what Proto-Mixtec sounds like, it is possible to see what one of its current variants, Xochapa, sounds like. Here is what the numerals 1 to 10 sound like in this language:

• iin
• uvi
• uni
• kumi
• u'un
• iñu
• uxa
• a
• iin
• uxi

However, although efforts to reconstruct how Proto-Mixtec sounded have not been very successful, we do know how it was written. Like the Zapotecs, the Mixtecs used hieroglyphic writing used hieroglyphs as their writing system, which have been which have been preserved and analyzed in numerous codices, such as the Mixtec-Zapotec codex, the vindoboninensis mexicanum, the Brodley and the Zouche Nuttal, in which historical scenes, noble genealogy and socio-political alliances are described.

Social and political organization

The Mixtec social structure was made up of strata, organized hierarchically. It was a system very similar to the Zapotec. At the top was the king and also the religious leaders and the high nobility, although never at the same level as the monarch.. At the next level were the merchants, who were highly valued, followed by the peasants and artisans who were the main economic engine. Finally, at the bottom rung were the slaves and serfs, mostly prisoners of war and criminals who represented the labor force of each kingdom.

The Mixtecs did not live in a single country, but in several kingdoms and city-states, similar to how the Greeks functioned in Classical Antiquity. Each independent state was governed by a king who collected taxes in the form of goods and services, with the nobility being the bureaucratic structure in charge of collecting taxes from their subjects. These kingdoms, despite being part of the same culture, from time to time were at odds with each other and attacked, although they also made commercial and military alliances.

Among the most important leaders of the history of the Mixtecs we have Ocho Venado Garra de Jaguar, a leader who during the 10th century founded several Mixtec kingdoms.. This famous cacique initiated an important expansionist process and is credited with having unified under his sole command the kingdoms of Tututepec (Yacudzáa), Tilantongo (Ñuu Tnoo Huahi Adehui) and Ñuu Cohyo, governing them until his death.

Considering that the Mixtecs did not get along very well with each other, much less were they going to be friends with other cultures. They got along especially badly with the Toltecs and on more than one occasion had a falling out with the Zapotecs. However, their ethnic disagreements were overcome every time the Aztecs tried to establish themselves as the main power in Mexico, causing Mixtecs and other peoples to unite to confront the common enemy.

Unfortunately, the system of alliances between Mixtec kingdoms and with other Mesoamerican countries would eventually fail, awakening old ethnic tensions.The Aztec Empire would take advantage of the old ethnic tensions in the 15th century. Subsequently, the Spaniards would learn of this lack of military and state unity of the Mixtecs and other peoples, greatly speeding up the conquest of Mexico.

Economy

Their economy depended mainly on agriculture. The Mixtecs planted chili, beans, pumpkins, cacao, cotton and, of course, the very important corn for all Mesoamerican cultures. It is worth mentioning that the cultivation of cacao and cotton was only possible if the terrain allowed it, in addition to the fact that this culture constantly faced an abrupt relief and water scarcity. This is why they had to they had to develop a system of terraced cultivation called "coo yuu", which they called "coo yuu"..

Similar to their neighbors the Zapotecs, the Mixtecs were not particularly given to fishing, hunting or gathering wild fruits, although they did practice these activities from time to time. On the other hand, the Mixtecs are known for having domesticated the guajolote, or turkey.

They were very good at working metal, especially gold.. In their culture this mineral was considered the excrement of the gods and had an important sacred meaning. It is believed that the Mixtecs must have been one of the first cultures to work metals, although it has also been suggested that they developed metallurgy later. Likewise, their mastery of metals was very great, transforming it into statuettes, in addition to making sculptures with bones.

Their pottery is polychromatic, with orange, black, red, white, blue and lilac tones.. To dye red vessels and fabrics, they raised cochineals, a parasitic insect of the cactus plant that when crushed gives a bright red color. In addition to this, they extracted caliche (calcium carbonate) and magnetite, which they traded along with their manufactures and some of their crops.

Bibliographical references:

• Bradley, C. Henry; Josserand, J. Kathryn (1982). The Proto-Mixtec and their descendants. Annals of Anthropology 19 (2): 279-343.
• Rodríguez Cano, Laura (2004). "El sistema de escritura mixteca en un documento de la Mixteca Baja del siglo XVI". In Guzmán Betancourt, Ignacio; Máynez, Pilar; León-Portilla, Ascensión H., eds. De historiografía lingüística e historia de las lenguas. Mexico City: Siglo XXI. pp. 401-416. ISBN 9682325153.