P-day trip to Tula

As we entered the city of Tula we saw this truck full of pigs next to us in traffic.  It made me think twice about having a pork chop for dinner.

The city of Tula as it would have been  in 900  through 1150 AD at its height.  Some of the first villages of Tula were established in 700-900  when the city was aligned at 17 degrees east of true north as were the main structures at Teotihuacan.  

The earliest well-defined settlements in the Tula area appeared around 400 BC and were probably under the political control of Teotihuacan.  Being settled this early could put it in B of M times.

We entered the orientation center first to become acquainted with Tula and the Toltec people.  These artifacts were in the museum/orientation center.  Just the feet and legs of a statue.  The detail is very impressive including the tied around the legs and feet.  

The head of a statue

The god Chac Mool.  Sacrifices were made to this statue/god and placed in his hands.  The same god is found in Chichen Itza so there are thoughts that the two cities are linked.  This statue/god was found on the site.

The jaguar was a significant animal in the Meso-American culture.  Even in the Olmec/Jaredite civilization the jaguar was a familiar symbol of power.  They knew their jungle animals and respected them.   

Tula was dedicated to the god Quetzalcoatl.  Rather is was the true great white God, Jesus Christ who was also known as Quetzalcoatl or another who came later and took that name it is not known.  Many leaders came after Christ and were also named as Quetzalcoatl.  The civilization of Tula had a pyramid dedicated to Quetzalcoatl but they also had a leader by that same name who was not Jesus Christ.  

A leader with a great headdress and elaborate clothing signifying importance.

A stone box.  I have seen many here in museums.  Some are huge and some are small  

I thought the picture of this young mother was very interesting.  Neal took a picture of Jackie and me so we could get her in the back ground.  Moments later he took another one of her.  

At this point in time the city of Tula has many large red ant beds.  

As we were walking back to the car we passed this sculpture of a serpent. The head is shown here and following the path you can come to its tail.  I am far in the back taking a photo of the tail which looks like a rattle snake tail built with rocks.  Quetzalcoatl is a feathered serpent so it was appropriate that Tula which had a leader and a pyramid named for Quetzalcoatl would have a serpent also representing Quetzalcoatl.

A relief of a Toltec ruler at the orientation center.