PXL_20250424_211308670

Sat, 14 Feb 2026 07:49:22 +0100

CACAXTLA-XOCHITECATL

The sites of Cacaxtla-Xochitecatl arose in the
Puebla-Tlaxcala Valley since the Preclassic period
(850 BC-AD 200) and rose to power during the
Epiclassic, between AD 750 to 950. Its strategic
position between Central Mexico, the Gulf Coast,
and the Maya area played a key role in its economic
development, and explained the cultural synthesis
of these traditions.
Xochitecatl, the religious place, stands on a
nearby hill east of Cacaxtla. The Pyramid of the
Flowers was the main temple wich was dedicated to
fertility as shown by the child burials and offerings
recovered there. Other structures in the central zone
are the buildings of the Serpent and of the Spiral, as
well as the Platform of the Volcanoes.
It is until the Epiclassic that the construction
of Cacaxtla is finished. The site was built on a natural
elevation, fortified and surrounded by defensive pits.
The site constituted the seat of the city-state's politi-
cal power, since there are palatial structures; also, in
the interior there are magnificent mural paintings.

This mural is located in a hillside of the
Building B and was developed between the years 650 and
700 AD. and in the year 850 it was covered with horned earth to build another substructure.
The painting depicts a bloody battle
between warrior-jaguars and warrior-birds.
It is likely to be an actual battle,
reinterpreted in mythical terms as the
sacrifice of the defeated warriors, emulating the death of the corn god in the process cyclical renewal.

The conflict between jaguars and birds is
can be interpreted as the struggle between the
night and day, and the forces that oppose,
such as the rainy season and the dry season.
This way the mural can also
to be interpreted as the confrontation, warlike
or symbolic, between two groups with different
ideals, but that coincide in the need
of the sacrifice derived from war. So, this
legitimate mural, in the religious sphere, the
political and military action of the leaders.