Zone de monuments archéologiques de Xochicalco

Brève description

Zone de monuments archéologiques de Xochicalco © Jesse Michael Nix

Justification d'inscription

Critère iii Xochicalco est l’exemple exceptionnellement bien préservé et complet d’un centre fortifié de la période épiclassique mésoaméricaine. Critère iv L’architecture et l’art de Xochicalco représentent la fusion d’éléments culturels issus de différentes régions de Mésoamérique, à une époque où l’effondrement des structures politiques antérieures a engendré un intense regroupement culturel.

Description longue

Xochicalco is an exceptionally well-preserved and complete example of a fortified settlement from the Epiclassic period of Mesoamerica. Its architecture and art represent the fusion of cultural elements from different parts of Mesoamerica, at a time when the breakdown of earlier political structures resulted in intensive cultural regrouping. The city was built on a series of natural hills. The highest of these was the core of the settlement, with many public buildings, but evidence of occupation has been found on six of the lower hills surrounding it. Substantial engineering work in the form of terracing and the construction of massive retaining walls in order to create a series of open spaces are defined by platforms and pyramidal structures. They are linked by a complex system of staircases, terraces and ramps to create a main north-south communication axis.

There are three distinct levels of organization to be recognized in material terms at Xochicalco - social, political and religious. The lower part is encircled by walls, pierced by defended entrances; it contains largely residential buildings. Next comes the intermediate level, the so-called 'Market Ensemble', which is the Plaza of the Stele of the Two Glyphs, a ball court, with more residential structures. The highest level consists of a group of temples and other monumental buildings for the use of the ruling class around the main plaza. The crest of the hill is the 'Acropolis'. In the lower level there is an access way beginning at the base of the southern hill and entering the city through the main gateway, flanked by two bastions. The causeway is paved with irregular flagstones and flanked with low walls fronting to residential areas.

In the intermediate level there is the Market Ensemble. Beyond it is another plaza on a platform from which a broad staircase ascends to the Plaza of the Stele of the Two Glyphs. This square is closed on its east and west sides by two buildings that are similar in form and size, and to the north by the Great Pyramid, the largest structure on the site. It consists of seven steps, with the remains of a temple at the apex. The stele from which the plaza takes its name is located on a square podium in its centre: this was the focus of civic and ceremonial life for the community, not least because it is easily accessible. The southern ball court, the largest at Xochicalco, is reached by a wide causeway. Beyond it is a group of structures known as the Palace; residential rooms, kitchens, workshops, and storerooms, along with a temazcal (steam-bath) are ranged around a series of patios. A series of 21 calendar altars line the causeway, recording the months (and in one case days) of the ceremonial year.

In the upper level a large platform is built around the northern, southern and west sides. To the east is a complex of three structures. The first of these is rectangular in plan and opens onto a patio sunk below the external level; it is accessible only from the roofs of the rooms. The second unit is a large patio closed on three sides by narrow galleries and delimited on the fourth side by three pyramidal platforms. Alongside it is the third element, the east ball court, separated by a monumental ramp paved with stone slabs engraved with images of birds, reptiles, insects and mammals, known as the Ramp of the Animals. The northern sector includes a large rainwater cistern that formed part of a complex water system covering the whole settlement. Beneath this platform is to be found the entrance to the caves that were used in the early phases of occupation for quarrying building materials. Later it was modified as an observatory for studying the heavens and for ceremonies. The Main Plaza is on an enormous artificial mound, accessible only through the two defended porticoes. It is dominated by two architectural complexes. That to the north consists of four very large rooms round a patio. The eastern one is more complex in plan, round four patios. In the south-eastern corner of the Main Plaza is the Pyramid of the Stele of the Two Glyphs, a stepped pyramidal base with a structure at its apex consisting of a patio defined by two lateral rooms and a temple at the far end. Two pyramidal structures are located in the middle of the plaza. One is the remarkable Pyramid of the Plumed Serpents and the other is the so-called Twin Pyramid. The Acropolis, built on a platform to the west of the Main Plaza, is formed of a series of buildings laid out on variations of a central patio with lateral rooms.

Description historique

Le déclin de la primauté politique et économique des villes téotihuacanes aux VIIe et VIIIe siècles après J.-C. a marqué la fin de la période classique mésoaméricaine et le début d'un âge qui a duré environ deux siècles et a été le témoin de la chute d'autres grandes capitales classiques, telles Monte Alban, Palenque, La Quemada et Tikal, qui dominaient jadis de vastes territoires. Il en a résulté la diminution des populations urbaines, voire l'abandon total des cités.

Les mouvements de migration furent considérables, et de nouvelles relations s'instaurèrent entre différentes régions telles les hauts plateaux du centre, la côte du golfe du Mexique, le Yucatan, le Chiapas et le Guatemala. Cette ère, qui s'étend de 650 à 900 environ, est connue sous le nom de période épiclassique. De nouvelles sociétés expansionnistes se développèrent, bien qu'aucune n'ait atteint le statut dominant et l'ampleur de Teotihuacan, de Monte Alban ou de Tikal. L'intégration entre elles était mineure, les confédérations disparaissant aussitôt formées. Elles ne devaient leur survie qu'à leur succès dans le contrôle de leurs maigres ressources, le développement de productions spécialisées et la domination des routes commerciales.

Dans une telle époque d'instabilité politique et de concurrence commerciale, l'infrastructure militaire était devenue cruciale, et de nouveaux sites, équipés de remparts, de fossés, de palissades, de bastions et de citadelles, voyaient le jour en des endroits faciles à défendre. Xochicalco est l'illustration parfaite de ce type de cité fortifiée épiclassique. Elle semble avoir été à l'origine de la création d'une confédération d'établissements dans la vaste région que se partagent aujourd'hui les États de Guerrero, de Mexico et l'ouest de Morelos.

Nombre d'impressionnantes structures publiques et religieuses ont été érigées en un très bref laps de temps, et celles-ci dénotent des influences culturelles des hauts plateaux du centre, de la côte du golfe et de la région maya. La ville fut fondée pendant la seconde moitié du VIIe siècle, puis brutalement abandonnée après avoir été mise à sac, à la fin du IXe siècle.