Tlatilco

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Ceramic art recovered from Tlatilco, commonly known as the "Acrobat".

Tlatilco was a large pre-Columbian village in the Valley of Mexico situated near the modern-day town of the same name in the Mexican Federal District. It was one of the first chiefdom centers to arise in the Valley, flourishing on the western shore of Lake Texcoco during the Middle Pre-Classic period, between the years of 1500 BCE and 500 BCE. It gives its name to the "Tlatilco culture", which also included the town of Tlapacoya, on the eastern shore of Lake Chalco. It is believed that Tlatilco was heavily influenced by the Olmecs, the first great culture of Mesoamerica.

Tlatilco is noted for its high quality pottery, many featuring Olmec iconography, and its figurines, including Olmec-style baby-face figurines. Despite an extensive Olmec influence, much else seems to be in a native ceramic tradition.^[1]

Many Tlatilco figurines show deformities or other anomalies, including a "duality" mask and several two-headed female figures. This has led some researchers to wonder whether Tlatilco was perhaps a cluster site for conjoined twins.^[2]

Tlatilco also features extensive burials, over 500 by one count, with intact grave offerings.^[3] The burials were apparently made under houses, although no trace of them remains, as well as among the various trash pits. Many burials, primarily of high status individuals, show evidence of dental mutilation and purposeful cranial deformation, most probably through the use of cradleboards.

The Tlatilcans' agriculture was focused on maize, but also included beans, amaranth, and squash. These plants were supplemented with various fowl, including migratory birds, wild rabbits and other smaller mammals, and deer and antelope.

The name "Tlatilco" comes from the Nahuatl language, in which it means "the place of occult (or hidden) things". The name was given by a group of Nahuatl speakers because when they arrived in the valley, the culture of Tlatilco had already disappeared.

[edit] Footnotes

^ Adams, p. 75)
^ Bendersky, aa well as Kennedy.
^ Adams, p. 75.

[edit] References

This article draws heavily on the corresponding article in the Spanish-language Wikipedia, which was accessed in the version of 11 June 2006.

Adams, Richard E W (1991) Prehistoric Mesoamerica, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Oklahoma.
Bendersky, Gordon (2000); "Tlatilco, Diprosopus, and Emergence of Medical Illustrations" in Perspectives in Biology & Medicine; Summer 2000, v43 #4, p477.
Diehl, Richard A. (2004) The Olmecs: America's First Civilization, Thames & Hudson, London.
Kennedy, G. E. (2001) "The 3,000-year history of conjoined twins", Western Journal of Medicine, September 2001, 175(3): 176-177.